New York: A 22-year-old Indian American man was sentenced to 51 months in prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud that targeted the elderly in the US by using call centres in India, an official statement said.
According to a statement from the US Attorney's Office Eastern District of Virginia, Jeel Patel of South Carolina was a part of an international fraud scheme from February 2020 to June 2020 that started from call centres in India and predominately targeted elderly people.
According to court documents, these call centres would initially contact victims using automated robocalls designed to create a sense of urgency with the recipients, it said.
The statement dated February 14 states that after making initial contact with victims, closers would pose as government officers like FBI or DEA agents in order to deceive and pressure victims into sending money to bank accounts managed by the conspiracy.
Jeel worked as a courier for the network who picked up cash stolen from unsuspecting seniors, saved a portion for themselves and forwarded the remainder to the call centre operators in India.
He was employed by Bhavinkumar "Sunny" Patel, who operated a cell of couriers in several states that was responsible for losses exceeding USD 3 million to more than 120 victims.
For his part in directing the fraud, Sunny, 28, of Richmond, was given a 10-year prison term last year. During the brief four-month period that Jeel Patel worked for Sunny Patel, the defendant retrieved or attempted to retrieve 14 packages from 10 different victims, with total actual losses of USD 485,020, it said.