Husband and Wife Sentenced for International Elder Fraud Scheme
“A husband and wife were sentenced today to a combined 92 months in prison for their roles in a sophisticated fraud scheme that primarily targeted elderly Americans,” posts The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia.
“According to court documents, Chirag Choksi, 36, who was sentenced to 78 months in prison, and Shachi Majmudar, 36, who was sentenced to 14 months, were members of a criminal conspiracy in which members used a variety of schemes, including impersonating law enforcement officers and other government officials, to trick and coerce victims into mailing and shipping cash to other conspiracy members by convincing the victims, a disproportionate number of whom were elders, that it was in their best interests to do so.”
“These schemes generally started with automated “robocalls” from a call center in India that were designed to create a sense of urgency with unsuspecting recipients. The messages typically told the recipient that they had some sort of serious legal problem, and that if they did not immediately take a particular action demanded by the callers then there will be drastic consequences. Typically the recipients were threatened with arrest, significant financial penalties, or cessation of government benefits. The fraudsters almost invariably instructed the call recipient that, in order to prevent these dire consequences, the recipient must pay money, by wire transfer or cash, to some purported government entity. This conspiracy operated “money mule” cells in multiple states, including New Jersey, California, Indiana, Texas, Illinois and Minnesota. These money mules would receive parcels containing cash that had been sent by victims and then deposit the money in bank accounts controlled by conspirators.”
