A Brookfield man faces serious charges after a federal grand jury indictment accused him of engaging in a money laundering conspiracy that preyed on elderly victims across multiple states. Ankurkumar Patel, 41, has been charged with one count each of money laundering conspiracy and substantive money laundering, as per an announcement from Richard G. Frohling, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. According to the indictment, Patel and unnamed co-conspirators were involved in duping elderly individuals into believing their bank accounts had been compromised in what is known as a "Phantom Hacker Scam."
The details of the scam, as outlined in the Department of Justice's press release, indicate that victims were manipulated into transferring funds to what they were lead to believe were safe accounts to protect their assets from fictional hackers. In one instance, a victim in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was directed to move their money, often in cash or gold, under the guidance of a supposed law enforcement agent. The indictment alleges that Patel himself collected over $1 million from such victims, subsequently distributing the funds through clandestine transactions to obscure the illicit origins.
If found guilty on the count of money laundering conspiracy, Patel could receive up to a 20-year imprisonment sentence and a fine up to $500,000, or twice the property value involved. The substantive money laundering charge carries a potential maximum sentence of 10 years and a fine not exceeding $250,000, or twice the amount of the money involved, whichever is higher. The FBI's Milwaukee office and Homeland Security Investigations in St. Louis carried out the investigation, with Assistant United States Attorney Peter J. Smyczek to take lead on the prosecution.
The FBI is reaching out to the public for any leads on similar cases and encourages anyone who might have fallen victim to the similar schemes to contact their office at 414-276-4684.
