A federal judge in Texas sentenced an Indian national who was in the United States on a student visa to more than eight years in prison for his role in a financial scam that targeted senior citizens.
This week, 21-year-old Dhruv Rajeshbhai Mangukiya went before a federal judge in Austin, who sentenced him to 97 months in prison on money laundering conspiracy charges. He had initially been arrested at his home in New Jersey and charged with multiple counts of fraud and money laundering related to the conspiracy, but he pleaded guilty to the charge in June as part of a plea deal.
According to information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mangukiya and others would use online phishing methods to find and target individuals, whom they would then call pretending to be from Amazon Fraud or U.S. agents, and claim that they were under investigation for fraud. As part of the scheme, the group would tell the victims to wire money, make cash deposits, or pay in gold and other valuables. The group would have a courier pick up those valuables.
In one case, the group convinced a victim that his identity had been stolen and used to create multiple bank accounts linked to cartel activity. They convinced the victim to pay approximately $180,000 in various payments to the fake agents. In another case, the group tricked an elderly woman from Fort Worth into paying $30,000.
According to federal prosecutors, the courier was another Indian man named Kishan Rajeshkumar Patel, who is currently serving more than five years in prison for his role in the scheme. Federal authorities pointed to two other members of the group who are the apparent masterminds behind the operations. Court documents do not reveal their names.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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