Indian-origin hacker gets 51 months jail for computer fraud in US
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 May, 2023 12:52 PM
ew York, May 24 (IANS) A 38-year-old Indian-origin hacker from Virginia was sentenced to more than four years in prison for hacking into computers and stealing customer credit card numbers.
Chirag Patel from Norfolk pleaded guilty to computer fraud and was sentenced by US District Judge G Murray Snow to 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
He also was ordered to pay $87,522.25 in restitution, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona said on Monday.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), between August 2017 and July 2020, Patel hacked into the Phoenix-based computers of an international hospitality company on numerous occasions.
He then fraudulently transferred and redeemed customer reward points from the company's customer loyalty program.
In addition, Patel also stole credit card numbers and other personally identifying information (PII) from customers and loyalty program members, which were stored in the company's computers.
Patel took screenshots of customers' and members' information, which included credit card numbers and other PII, and saved the screenshots to a Google Drive he controlled.
In total, between August 2017 and July 2020, Patel stole and possessed more than 1,200 credit card numbers, the FBI investigation found.
He used some of the stolen credit card numbers to make unauthorized purchases and also tried to sell some of the stolen credit card numbers.
Balbir Mahay, who came to the US in 1999, was there when the tragedy struck the Sikh temple nearly 11 years ago to support members of the Sikh community. Mahay is also a member of the gurdwara, and "that connection was especially helpful during the mass shooting at the temple", WISN TV reported.
Tarikjot Singh was accused of abducting Jasmeen Kaur, 21, and killing her, before dumping her body in a shallow grave in Flinders Ranges, 430 km from Adelaide, where she was last seen.
The bill would designate Diwali as a state commemorative period and will allow the sale and discharge of fireworks during the five days of Diwali, which is usually between late October and early November.
Mahankali Akhil Sai, 25, from Khammam district lost his life in the incident that occurred at Auburn in Alabama state on Monday night (local time). Sai had gone to the US about 13 months ago and was studying MS at Auburn University. He was also doing a part-time job at a nearby gas station.
According to police, Patel was not in a crosswalk, and surveillance footage showed eastbound traffic had a green light at the time. The Patel family has decided to donate Patel's kidneys following his death.
The resolution, which was passed last week, appreciated the Sikhs for their humanitarian services, despite receiving hate and facing oppression for their faith worldwide. In December, Utah became the 15th state in the US to include information about Sikhism, Sikh practices, and traditions in their schools' social studies syllabi.
