Gujarat man pleads guilty to swindling $500,000 from US couple for ‘safekeeping with Treasury Dept’ in wire fraud

As per a statement from the office of the US attorney of the district of Massachusetts, L B Foley, Patel was arrested and charged by criminal complaint on October 7, 2024, and indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024. US District Court Judge Mark G Mastroianni has scheduled sentencing for February 13.

As per the statement of the attorney, “In early 2024, an elderly Berkshire County resident received a pop-up message on his computer claiming that his computer was frozen and directing him to call the number provided on the computer screen, purportedly associated with Microsoft. The victim’s call was routed to an individual who identified himself as a federal law enforcement officer with the U.S. Treasury Department and referred to himself as Sam Wilson. Wilson told the victim that he was involved in a money laundering scheme and instructed the victim to take out the cash from his bank accounts and send the money to the Treasury Department for safekeeping.”
Couriers sent to collect boxes of cash

Patel, posing as Wilson, then “directed the victim to place the cash in a taped box with the victim’s own name and address written on it”. Wilson then allegedly sent couriers to the victim’s home to collect the boxes of cash. “Prior to each collection, Wilson had the victim describe the clothes he would be wearing and provided the victim with a ‘PIN’ passcode the couriers were to recite upon pickup,” as per the release of the attorney.

As per details of the case, “On or about October 7, 2024, Patel drove from South Boston to North Adams, Massachusetts, for the purpose of retrieving cash from the victim. On that date, Patel spoke with an individual he believed to be the victim and provided the prearranged passcode, before taking possession of the box of cash and driving away. Patel was immediately apprehended.”

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the US Sentencing Guidelines and statutes that govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

In December last year, a 38-year-old Indian national of Gujarat origin, Ligneshkumar Patel, was sentenced to 90 months (7.5 years) in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to the charges about his involvement in an impostor scheme to defraud 11 identified victims, including elderly residents from Edwardsville and Effingham, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri. The judge had also ordered him to pay more than $2 million in restitution.