An Indian nationwide has pleaded responsible to the fees of scamming senior American residents and committing wire fraud. Ashish Bajaj (29), faces a most penalty of 20 years.
According to court docket paperwork, from April 2020 to August 2021, Bajaj and his conspirators preyed on aged victims throughout the United States by impersonating as fraud prevention specialists from numerous banks, on-line retailers, and on-line fee corporations.
They contacted victims and falsely claimed that they had been fraud prevention specialists employed by respected corporations and that the victims’ accounts with banks, on-line retailers, or on-line funds corporations had been being focused for fraud, federal prosecutors alleged.
Bajaj and his conspirators then falsely advised the victims that their fraud prevention efforts required the victims’ help in a sting operation to catch the perpetrators.
According to court docket papers, Bajaj and the conspirators requested the aged victims to ship cash from their financial institution accounts to accounts managed by Bajaj and the conspirators and falsely promised to return their cash inside a couple of days of the purported sting operation.
The victims had been additionally falsely promised that when they ship the cash, the sting operation would consequence within the arrest of the purported perpetrators.
The victims despatched worldwide wire transfers to numerous banks situated in India, China, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
“The victims also sent money through an online application to bank accounts held by Bajaj in the United States. The victims further sent cash and cashier checks to Bajaj at an address in California. The scheme resulted in losses of over USD 2,50,000,” the Department of Justice stated.