Close X
Thursday, November 28, 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-Origin Doctor Charged With Drug Trafficking

Indian-Origin Doctor Charged With Drug Trafficking
A 50-year-old Indian-origin doctor in the US has been charged with drug trafficking and money-laundering, according to federal authorities.

Indian-Origin Doctor Charged With Drug Trafficking

B.C. To Announce Latest Numbers Around Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths

B.C. To Announce Latest Numbers Around Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths
The number of fatalities in the province last year reached 755 up until the beginning of December, following a record-breaking 128 deaths in November.

B.C. To Announce Latest Numbers Around Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths

18 Million More Uninsured If Obamacare Killed, Not Replaced

18 Million More Uninsured If Obamacare Killed, Not Replaced
Spotlighting potential perils for Republicans, the report immediately became a flashing hazard light for this year's effort by Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers to annul Obama's law and — in a more complicated challenge — institute their own alternative.

18 Million More Uninsured If Obamacare Killed, Not Replaced

Canadians Travellers Appear Undeterred By Fatal Shooting In Mexico

Canadians Travellers Appear Undeterred By Fatal Shooting In Mexico
Canadian travellers and expats appear undeterred by a fatal shooting at the popular Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen this week, saying the area remains safe despite what they consider an isolated tragedy.

Canadians Travellers Appear Undeterred By Fatal Shooting In Mexico

Pakistani Mom Promised Her Daughter A Wedding Reception. Instead, She Burned Her Alive

Pakistani Mom Promised Her Daughter A Wedding Reception. Instead, She Burned Her Alive
Zeenat Rafiq had been married to her husband for just one week when her mother showed up at the couple's home in June offering to throw them a wedding celebration.

Pakistani Mom Promised Her Daughter A Wedding Reception. Instead, She Burned Her Alive

Indian-Americans Get 1% Representation In US Congress: Forbes

Indian-Americans Get 1% Representation In US Congress: Forbes
Indian Americans, who comprise around one per cent of the US population, now for the first-time ever also make up one per cent of the US Congress.

Indian-Americans Get 1% Representation In US Congress: Forbes