Tag: Indian

An Indian national was sentenced today to 20 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release in the Southern District of Texas for his role in operating and funding India-based call centers that defrauded U.S. victims out of millions of dollars between 2013 and 2016.

Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, aka Hitesh Hinglaj, 44, of Ahmedabad, India, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David Hittner for the charges of wire fraud conspiracy and general conspiracy to commit identification fraud, access device fraud, money laundering, and impersonation of a federal officer or employee. Patel was also ordered to pay restitution of $8, 970,396 to identified victims of his crimes.

“The defendant defrauded vulnerable U.S. victims out of tens of millions of dollars by spearheading a conspiracy whose members boldly impersonated federal government officials and preyed on victims’ fears of adverse government action,” said Acting Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“Today’s sentence demonstrates the department’s commitment to prosecuting high-level perpetrators of such nefarious schemes. Even fraudsters operating scams from beyond our borders are not beyond the reach of the U.S. judicial system.”

“The long arm of federal law enforcement was key to bringing this con artist to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of the Southern District of Texas. “Transnational call center scams are complex cases to investigate and prosecute but our agencies are up to the task. Many of these fraudsters prey on the most vulnerable from the perceived safety of foreign lands so there is no sorry in seeing him head to prison. His access to a phone is now greatly diminished. Across the globe, U.S. law enforcement is chasing and dismantling these schemes.”

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) – A bipartisan group of US lawmakers pushed on Tuesday for quick congressional approval of a COVID-19 fiscal relief of just over $900 billion, criticizing legislators for going on a break when the nation was in the midst of financial stress caused by the pandemic.

“It’s inexcusable for the Senate to leave town. It’s not the time for political brinkmanship. We’re going to intend to move this forward,” Senator Joe Manchin said when introducing the $908 billion Bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill.