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.
Rajesh Motibhai Patel, 68, was indicted last week on multiple counts of violating his patients' constitutional right to bodily integrity while acting under colour of law and for engaging in unwanted sexual contact, a Department of Justice release said.
Although WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted Friday's declaration "does not mean COVID-19 is over," many people will likely interpret it that way, said Dr. Allison McGeer, infectious diseases specialist and microbiologist at Sinai Health Systems in Toronto.
Amandeep Singh, 34, was driving his 2019 Dodge Ram south in the northbound lanes on North Broadway in Jericho on Wednesday when he smashed into a 2019 Alfa Romeo four-door sedan with four male teens inside. While two teens -- identified as Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz -- were pronounced dead at the scene, the other two, aged 16 and 17, were taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries.
Jobanpreet Singh, 21, was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on two counts of murder in the first degree on Thursday, the Portland Police Bureau said. Portland police are yet to publicly identify the two men who died.
But even though the emergency phase is over, he's emphatic the pandemic hasn't ended, noting recent spikes in cases in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Sally Harris from Ottawa says she and other members of the Monarchist League of Canada are hoping to watch the coronation procession under a big Canadian flag and wave at King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla as they go by.
