American Pakistani
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- May 30, 2010
- Messages
- 15,374
- Reaction score
- 10
- Country
- Location
Two more found guilty in India-based call center scam targeting US victims
By AB Wire | July 20, 2017
The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that an Indian national and an Indian American have pleaded guilty for their involvement in a mass telephone scam using call centers in India.
According to the announcement made by the justice department, Montu Barot, 30, an Indian national most recently residing in Glendale Heights, Illinois, and Nilesh Pandya, 54, of Stafford, Texas, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering offenses, in violation of Title 18, US Code, Section 371.
The pleas were entered before District Court Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas. Barot agreed to deportation following his sentence which is pending.
The charges leveled against the accused include perpetrating a complex scheme in which individuals from call centers, which was located in Ahmedabad, impersonated officials from the IRS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and engaged in other telephone call scams, in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout the US.
The news release from the Justice Department also said that the information obtained from data brokers and other sources confirmed that the call center operators targeted US victims. These victims were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay alleged monies owed to the government.
Victims who agreed to pay the scammers were instructed how to provide payment, including by purchasing stored value cards or wiring money. Upon payment, the call centers would immediately turn to a network of “runners” based in the US to liquidate and launder the fraudulently-obtained funds.
According to Barot’s guilty plea, beginning in or around June 2012, Barot served as a runner and coordinated the liquidation of victim scam funds by other runners per the instructions of conspirators from both India-based call centers and within the United States.
Barot communicated via phone, text, and email in furtherance of the criminal scheme with both domestic and India-based associates. He and his conspirators used reloadable cards containing funds derived from victims by scam callers to purchase money orders and deposit them into various bank accounts as directed, in return for cash payments or commissions.
Barot also admitted to sending financial ledgers to his conspirators detailing the movement of scam victim funds.
Based on admissions in Nilesh Pandya’s guilty plea, beginning in or around March 2014, Pandya served as a runner liquidating victim scam funds within the Southern District of Texas. At the direction of two of his co-defendants, Pandya used stored value cards that had been loaded with victim funds to buy money orders and then deposit them into various bank accounts.
To date, Montu Barot, Nilesh Pandya, 54 other individuals and five India-based call centers have been charged for their roles in the fraud and money laundering scheme in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas on Oct. 19, 2016. Including this week’s pleas, a total of thirteen defendants has pleaded guilty thus far in this case. Co-defendants Bharatkumar Patel, Ashvinbhai Chaudhari, Harsh Patel, Nilam Parikh, Hardik Patel, Rajubhai Patel, Viraj Patel, Dilipkumar A Patel, Fahad Ali, Bhavesh Patel and Asmitaben Patel previously pleaded guilty on various dates between April and July 2017.
The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
https://www.americanbazaaronline.co...-based-call-center-scam-targeting-us-victims/
By AB Wire | July 20, 2017
The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that an Indian national and an Indian American have pleaded guilty for their involvement in a mass telephone scam using call centers in India.
According to the announcement made by the justice department, Montu Barot, 30, an Indian national most recently residing in Glendale Heights, Illinois, and Nilesh Pandya, 54, of Stafford, Texas, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering offenses, in violation of Title 18, US Code, Section 371.
The pleas were entered before District Court Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas. Barot agreed to deportation following his sentence which is pending.
The charges leveled against the accused include perpetrating a complex scheme in which individuals from call centers, which was located in Ahmedabad, impersonated officials from the IRS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and engaged in other telephone call scams, in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout the US.
The news release from the Justice Department also said that the information obtained from data brokers and other sources confirmed that the call center operators targeted US victims. These victims were threatened with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation if they did not pay alleged monies owed to the government.
Victims who agreed to pay the scammers were instructed how to provide payment, including by purchasing stored value cards or wiring money. Upon payment, the call centers would immediately turn to a network of “runners” based in the US to liquidate and launder the fraudulently-obtained funds.
According to Barot’s guilty plea, beginning in or around June 2012, Barot served as a runner and coordinated the liquidation of victim scam funds by other runners per the instructions of conspirators from both India-based call centers and within the United States.
Barot communicated via phone, text, and email in furtherance of the criminal scheme with both domestic and India-based associates. He and his conspirators used reloadable cards containing funds derived from victims by scam callers to purchase money orders and deposit them into various bank accounts as directed, in return for cash payments or commissions.
Barot also admitted to sending financial ledgers to his conspirators detailing the movement of scam victim funds.
Based on admissions in Nilesh Pandya’s guilty plea, beginning in or around March 2014, Pandya served as a runner liquidating victim scam funds within the Southern District of Texas. At the direction of two of his co-defendants, Pandya used stored value cards that had been loaded with victim funds to buy money orders and then deposit them into various bank accounts.
To date, Montu Barot, Nilesh Pandya, 54 other individuals and five India-based call centers have been charged for their roles in the fraud and money laundering scheme in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas on Oct. 19, 2016. Including this week’s pleas, a total of thirteen defendants has pleaded guilty thus far in this case. Co-defendants Bharatkumar Patel, Ashvinbhai Chaudhari, Harsh Patel, Nilam Parikh, Hardik Patel, Rajubhai Patel, Viraj Patel, Dilipkumar A Patel, Fahad Ali, Bhavesh Patel and Asmitaben Patel previously pleaded guilty on various dates between April and July 2017.
The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
https://www.americanbazaaronline.co...-based-call-center-scam-targeting-us-victims/
