Indian-origin man sentenced in U.S. for fraud scheme targeting elderly

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An Indian-origin man has been sentenced to over six years in prison in San Francisco, U.S., for his involvement in a fraud scheme in which he laundered over a million dollars targeting senior citizens, according to the Justice Department.

Pranav Patel, 33, of New Jersey, served as a “money mule” in the fraud scheme between October and December 2023 and laundered $1.7 million as part of it.

He pleaded guilty in December last year and was sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge William Jung to six years and three months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The court also ordered the seizure of $1.7 million, the Justice Department said.

Conspirators involved in the scheme called from call centres abroad and fraudulently identified themselves as government agents such as officers from the U.S. Treasury Department. 

In some instances, they told victims that there were outstanding warrants for their arrest and they needed to pay to clear the warrants. On other occasions, the conspirators told victims that they needed to provide their money and gold to the officers for safekeeping.

Patel drove from New Jersey to pick up money and gold from senior citizens in Florida and elsewhere along the U.S. East Coast.

During the sentencing hearing, one victim from whom Patel picked up fraud proceeds informed the court that because of the scam, he was unable to afford his mortgage payments, had to sell his house and depended on Social Security benefits for all his living expenses.

In December 2023, Patel travelled to a residence to retrieve what he believed was a box of gold. However, he was unaware that he was doing so while under law enforcement surveillance, and was promptly arrested after picking up the box.