Close X
Monday, November 18, 2024
ADVT 
International

Indian Immigrant Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For $25 Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme In US

Darpan News Desk, 03 Mar, 2017 11:22 AM
  • Indian Immigrant Sentenced To 9 Years In Prison For $25 Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme In US
The FBI caught hint of the scam after the group used images of fake passports, including one that featured Canadian actress Laura Vandervoort's image from a television show.
 
An Indian-American man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for a multi-million dollar fraud scheme.
 
Amit Chaudhry, 44, from Ashburn, Virginia, pleaded guilty on September 21 last year to identity theft, money laundering and visa fraud.
 
"I never really dreamt of being a felon. This is going to haunt me for the rest of my life," Chaudhry said in Alexandria federal court on Thursday before being sentenced, the Washington Post reported.
 
According to the report, Chaudhry, who emigrated from India in 1992, helped his relatives overseas to operate a multimillion-dollar scam that involved money laundering from stolen credit cards and identities through shell bank accounts.
 
He was also part of a related scheme, advertising cheap travel packages. Clients' money would be stolen and their hotel and airfare would be paid for with stolen credit cards.
 
They also made more than $25 million off fake credit cards with the help of a co-conspirator working at American Express in India, the Washington Post report said. 
 
 
The group also used images of fake passports.
 
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uncovered the scheme in part when an agent recognised a photo in one passport as actress Laura Vandervoot. The photo was taken from a scene of her television show "V" involving visas.
 
"What we're dealing with here is not a casual wrong turn," said Jeffrey Abish, the chief information officer for the defrauded company ActioNet. 
 
Chaudhry sent inflated and imagined IT invoices to the company, netting $4.1 million that he has now pledged to repay, according to the report.
 
Defence attorney Danny Onorato told The Post that "this was all done out of family loyalty".
 
Onorato added that Chaudhry has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, which might help explain his behaviour.
 
However, Assistant US Attorney Katherine Wong protested Onorato's argument, saying: "Asperger's doesn't cause anyone to steal or open credit card accounts in someone else's name."
 
Chaudhry is cooperating with authorities, who are still finding more victims and tracking down co-conspirators in the US and abroad. 

MORE International ARTICLES

Indian Man Charged With Sexually Touching Sleeping Virgin America Passenger

Indian Man Charged With Sexually Touching Sleeping Virgin America Passenger
Veerabhadrarao Kunam, 58, of Visakhapatnam was charged with one count of abusive sexual conduct aboard Flight 170 which departed on July 29

Indian Man Charged With Sexually Touching Sleeping Virgin America Passenger

US Couple Abandons 2-Year-Old Son To Play Pokemon Go, Arrested

US Couple Abandons 2-Year-Old Son To Play Pokemon Go, Arrested
Brent Daley, 27, and Brianne Daley, 25, left their 2-year-old boy at San Tan Valley home in Arizona for 90 minutes in scorching heat without water while they played Pokemon Go in surrounding neighbourhoods.

US Couple Abandons 2-Year-Old Son To Play Pokemon Go, Arrested

Pope Francis: It's 'terrible' Children Taught They Can Choose Gender

Pope Francis: It's 'terrible' Children Taught They Can Choose Gender
Without specifying, he blamed this on textbooks supplied by "persons and institutions who donate money."

Pope Francis: It's 'terrible' Children Taught They Can Choose Gender

7,700 Indian workers affected in Saudi Arabia: MEA

7,700 Indian workers affected in Saudi Arabia: MEA
Giving a breakup of the figures, Swarup said 4,072 workers belonging to construction company Saudi Oger in Riyadh are in 10 camps: nine in Riyadh and one in Damman.

7,700 Indian workers affected in Saudi Arabia: MEA

Dhaka Attack: Bangladeshi-Canadian Tamim Chowdhury Named As Mastermind

Dhaka Attack: Bangladeshi-Canadian Tamim Chowdhury Named As Mastermind
A raid in Dhaka 4 days ago provided police the clue to identify Tamim Chowdhury as the architect of the recent Islamist assaults, a police officer familiar with the investigations told on anonymity.

Dhaka Attack: Bangladeshi-Canadian Tamim Chowdhury Named As Mastermind

Investigation Into Cocaine Smuggling From Mexico To Canada Results In Arrests

RCMP say during the course of their investigation, they seized more than two kilograms of cocaine.

Investigation Into Cocaine Smuggling From Mexico To Canada Results In Arrests