An Indian American resident of Illinois, United Stateshas been sentenced to three years in jail for laundering cash earned from a telemarketing scheme that targeted senior citizens, according to the Press Trust of India.
Hirenkumar P Chaudhari, 29, pleaded guilty to a federal money laundering charge in 2021, said John R Lausch, US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Lausch announced the sentencing in July 2022.
According to federal prosecutors, Chaudhari’s scam involved using a fake Indian passportfalse name, and false addresses in order to open several bank accounts in the US to receive cash from victims of the telemarketing scheme.
The scam consisted of phone calls from people falsely claiming to be from either the Social Security Administration or US Department of Justiceamong other agencies. They would let the victims know that their identity had been stolen and that they would need to transfer money to various bank accounts including those opened by Chaudhari.