Indian sentenced to over 15 years imprisonment in US for 'ringleader' role in fraud scheme targeting elderly victims

A 26-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison in the US by a federal court for his role in leading a major fraud scheme that targeted and threatened elderly victims across the country.

MD Azad, a “US-based ringleader” who worked with a call centre in India, pleaded guilty in August last year to participating in a fraud ring from 2019-2020 which operated out of various US cities, US Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said.

US District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered Azad to serve 188 months in federal prison.

Azad, an Indian citizen who illegally resided in Houston, is expected to face removal proceedings following the prison term.

His fraud scheme targeted elderly victims throughout the United States and elsewhere who tricked and deceived victims and instructed them to send money via wire through money transmitter businesses, by buying gift cards and providing to the fraudsters or by mailing cash to fraudulent names via postal mail.

Once the victims contacted the fraudsters, they were told various stories such as they were communicating with an expert that needed remote access to their computer in order to provide technical support services.

The fraudsters then gained access to victims’ personal data and bank and credit card information.

Victims typically paid a fee to conspirators for the fake technical support but were later told they were due a refund.

Through paying for “technical support” or through the “refund” process, the ring gained access to the victim’s bank account(s) and credit cards and manipulated the accounts to make it appear the victim was paid too large a refund due to a typographical error.

Victims were then instructed to reimburse the ring by various means.

Other Indian nationals involved in the conspiracy were named as Anirudha Kalkote, 26, who pleaded guilty in relation to the conspiracy, as did Sumit Kumar Singh, 26, Himanshu Kumar, 26, and MD Hasib, 27. They all resided illegally in Houston and are pending sentencing.

All five individuals will remain in custody.

Victims were also re-victimised multiple times and were threatened with bodily harm if they did not pay, authorities said.

In handing down the sentence, the court noted the many letters and victim impact statements it had read showing the financial devastation to elderly and vulnerable victims throughout the United States because of this fraud scheme.

“The victims in this case were devastated, financially and otherwise,” said Hamdani.