Man who took part in conspiracy to con victims out of $600,000 sentenced to prison
A man who had a role in conning people out of more than $600,000 has been sentenced to two years and eight months in federal prison.
Satishkumar R. Patel, 39, is liable for $631,336 in restitution.
Patel was part of group of people across the U.S. and in India who worked to defraud people of money through telephone scams, according to a sentencing memorandum from Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn M. Dieruf.
“At its core, the scheme was usually simple — dupe unsuspecting, U.S. senior citizens into believing their life savings were in jeopardy, convince them to send said life savings to government officials for their protection, and then steal the money,” Dieruf said in the memo.
The scammers sometimes posed as government officials and convinced victims they needed to send money to resolve legal or financial problems.
Patel’s plea agreement cited an example in which someone involved in the scam, posing as a federal official, told an older woman that her money was in danger of being seized by the government because her Social Security number had turned up in a drug investigation.
The California woman ultimately sent nearly $380,000 by Federal Express to addresses the scammers directed her to use, according to court documents.
The woman, identified only by initials, said in a victim statement that the scam had “caused a total collapse and complete destruction of my finances,” the prosecutor said.
At age 70, she has to constantly seek part-time work, though that is difficult because she had a kidney transplant and has kidney disease.
In other instances, scammers told victims that a company had mistakenly put money into their accounts and that they needed to withdraw the money and return it, according to a court document.
Patel provided fake names for other people in the conspiracy to use, as well as addresses to send money to, and picked up shipments of money, according to the court record.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.
Patel worked out of the Chicago area during the scheme, and none of the victims cited in his case lived in Kentucky.
He was charged in Kentucky because the conspirators had victims send money to addresses in Kentucky at times.
In an example listed in the indictment, someone involved in the scam had an older woman in Texas send $48,000 to an address that was a Dollar General store in Pulaski County for someone to pick up.
Dieruf said others involved in the conspiracy are being prosecuted elsewhere around the U.S.
Patel’s attorney, Brandon J. Storm, said in a sentencing memo that Patel’s involvement in the conspiracy was out of character and was likely “the direct result of his significant and then escalating gambling addiction, coupled with alcohol dependency” and compounded by the need to provide for his family.
Patel crossed the Mexican border in 2010 to enter the U.S. illegally and could be deported after serving his sentence, according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier sentenced Patel Tuesday in federal court in London.
The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and has information to help protect older people from financial scams, and the U.S. Department of Justice has a hotline to report elder fraud.
