Two Indian nationals have been convicted in a federal court after a six-day trial for their roles in a massive money laundering scheme that swindled life savings from unsuspecting victims in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. Pranay Kumar Mamidi, 27, and Kishan Vinayak Patel, 26, were found guilty of money laundering, hiding the source of illegally obtained money and using it to promote further criminal activities. In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the pair were part of a conspiracy that operated from May to November 2023, dealing significant financial blows to their targets.
The pattern of the scam, known as a phantom hacker scam, involved posing as customer service representatives from various stores or banks, informing the targeted victim of a supposed compromise in their financial accounts. As detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio, unsuspecting individuals, including many elderly, were subsequently directed to fake law enforcement agents, who employed deceit and threats to obtain their savings.
One common iteration of this ruse involved the scammers masquerading as employees from Amazon, Inc., and subsequently, as agents from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Victims, in fear of supposed arrest warrants and legal troubles, were duped into converting their bank savings into cash or gold bars, which they then were instructed to leave at designated drop-off points – all under the guise of cooperation with a lawful investigation.
Mamidi and Patel, as per court documents, functioned as U.S.-based money launders within a global network that facilitated these scams, masterminded from India. The stateside infrastructure they created helped to funnel the illicit funds internationally, with the estimated total laundered amount reaching tens of millions of dollars. Sentencing has yet to be scheduled. However, the defendants face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each count of conviction, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
In connection with the same investigation, six other individuals have pleaded guilty and await sentencing, reinforcing the extensive breadth of the criminal operation. The investigative efforts of the FBI-Cleveland Field Office and the proactive stance of the U.S. Justice Department's Elder Justice Initiative are part of a broader commitment to combating financial crimes against the elderly. For those suspecting elder fraud, the FBI encourages reporting through the National Elder Fraud Hotline and IC3 Elder Fraud Complaint Center.
