IndiansentencedtoyearsinforincallcentreinUStosentencedinincallcentretotoinUStototototosentencedtoininininforfraudtoInIndianIndianininIndianyearsyearsforUSIndianinfraudcallcentreAnnational has beeneightand eight monthsprisonparticipatingan India-basedwhich operators impersonatedtax officialsextort money from Americans.Federal Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington, whoNishitkumar Patel on MondayTampa, Florida, also fined him $200,000 and ordered the forfeiture of cash and his Land Rover He and four others - two of them Indians - had earlier admitted their guiltcourt.Patel and his accomplices used the India-basedmake callspeoplethepretendingbe tax officials from the Internal Revenue Service and claiming that they owed taxes, threatened the victims with arrest, accordingcourt filings.They ordered the victimsbuy prepaid cash cardspay what they claimed were back taxes and sent peoplecollect the cards, deposit the payments into bank accounts they opened and turn over the money after deducting a commission, court papers said.One of the co-conspirators, Alejandro Juarez, was earlier15 monthsprison, while Hemalkumar Shah, Sharvil Patel and Brenda Dozier are awaiting sentencing.When they were chargedNovember, officials said that law enforcement officers executed a search warrant Nishitkumar Patel's home and seized $50,000cash, hundreds of bank and wire transfer receipts, and 20 electronic devices.The charges filedcourt described Nishitkumar Patel, 31, Sharvil Patel, 22, and Hemalkumar Shah, 27, as "domestic managers"thewho hired peoplecollect the payment cards.India-linked fraudulent tax extortion through threatening phone calls are rampant.October 2016, fivecompanies and 56 people, most of them ofdescent, were chargeda Texas federal court with involvementa similar racket.Last October, 21 people - at least 20 of them oforigin - received sentences ranging between fourand 13, with orders of deportationmost of them and revocation ofcitizenship of one.Three others ofdescent were also convicted earlierthe sameJeff Sessions, who was the attorney general at that time, had said: "The stiff sentences imposed this week represent the culmination of the first-ever large scale, multi-jurisdiction prosecution targeting the Indiascam industry."

Source: Economic Times April 02, 2019 03:11 UTC