Indian National Gets 33-Month Jail Term for Defrauding Elderly People in US

Indian National Gets 33-Month Jail Term for Defrauding Elderly People in US

California: Ashish Bajaj, 29, pleaded guilty before District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court on August 4 last year. An Indian national has been sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay USD 2.4 million for defrauding elderly people in the US. Ashish Bajaj, 29, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark federal court on August 4 last year. The Justice Department said Thursday that he was ordered to serve 33 months in prison, two years of supervised release and pay $2.4 million in restitution for his role in an international conspiracy that preyed on elderly victims in New Jersey and across the United States. I went.

According to the documents, from April 2020 to August 2021, Bajaj and his co-conspirators preyed on elderly victims across the United States by impersonating fraud prevention specialists at various banks, online retailers and online payment companies. They contacted victims and falsely claimed that they were fraud prevention specialists employed by reputable companies and that the victims’ accounts at banks, online retailers, or online payment companies were being targeted for fraud.

Prosecutors said Bajaj and his co-conspirators then falsely told the victims that their fraud prevention efforts needed the victims’ assistance in a sting operation to catch the perpetrators. He asked elderly victims to transfer money from their bank accounts to accounts controlled by him and falsely promised to return their money within days of the alleged sting operation. The victims were also falsely promised that once they remitted the money, the sting operation would result in the arrest of the alleged criminals. According to court documents, he sent international wire transfers to various banks located in India, China, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

The victims also sent money through an online application to Bajaj’s bank accounts in the United States. He then sent the cash and cashier’s check to Bajaj at an address in California. According to the documents, the scheme resulted in losses of more than US$250,000.