Close X
Sunday, November 24, 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

Warned To Leave, Kansas Shooting Victim Refused To Abandon The 'Country He Loved,' His Wife Said

Warned To Leave, Kansas Shooting Victim Refused To Abandon The 'Country He Loved,' His Wife Said
The body was brought by a cargo flight, which arrived at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport around 10 p.m.

Warned To Leave, Kansas Shooting Victim Refused To Abandon The 'Country He Loved,' His Wife Said

India's Ambassador To US Navtej Sarna Meets President Donald Trump

India's Ambassador To US Navtej Sarna Meets President Donald Trump
 This was the first meeting of the top Indian diplomat with Trump after he was sworn in as the US President on January 20.

India's Ambassador To US Navtej Sarna Meets President Donald Trump

Bangladeshi-Origin Muslim White House Staffer Quits US President Donald Trump's Office Over Travel B

Bangladeshi-Origin Muslim White House Staffer Quits US President Donald Trump's Office Over Travel B
My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for. I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman - I was the only hijabi in the West Wing 

Bangladeshi-Origin Muslim White House Staffer Quits US President Donald Trump's Office Over Travel B

Pak Airline Allowed 7 Passengers To Stand In Aisles Through Entire Flight

Pak Airline Allowed 7 Passengers To Stand In Aisles Through Entire Flight
A Boeing 777 aircraft has a seating capacity of 409, including jump seats for staff, while flight PK-743 carried 416 passengers from Karachi to Madina. 

Pak Airline Allowed 7 Passengers To Stand In Aisles Through Entire Flight

'Do We Belong?': Slain Indian Engineer's Wife Seeks Answers From Donald Trump's Government

'Do We Belong?': Slain Indian Engineer's Wife Seeks Answers From Donald Trump's Government
The wife of slain Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla has publicly sought answers to what she perceived was a spread in American hate crimes as mourners held a vigil at a local church for the victims of the bar shooting in which her husband died.

'Do We Belong?': Slain Indian Engineer's Wife Seeks Answers From Donald Trump's Government

India Is America's Greatest Strategic Partner: Top US Governor

India Is America's Greatest Strategic Partner: Top US Governor
India is America's "greatest" strategic ally and the country has been instrumental in helping the US build technology and medical professions, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe has said.

India Is America's Greatest Strategic Partner: Top US Governor