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Indian-origin man sentenced in elder fraud scheme in New Jersey
Patel laundered nearly $1.8 million, posed as federal agent and was arrested in a Florida sting.
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Pranavi Sharma - Thu, 12, Jun 2025
- 02:59 EDT
- 20
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Stock image. / Shutterstock
Pranav Patel, a 33-year-old man of Indian origin from New Jersey, has been sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering in a fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims across the East Coast. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge William F. Jung in the Middle District of Florida.
Patel pleaded guilty on Dec. 23, 2024. The court also ordered him to forfeit $1,791,301, the total amount he laundered during the scheme.
According to court documents, the fraud occurred between October and December 2023. Conspirators working from overseas call centers posed as U.S. government officials, including agents from the Department of the Treasury. Victims were told they had outstanding arrest warrants or needed to surrender their money and gold to the “authorities” for safekeeping.
Patel acted as a money mule. He traveled from New Jersey to various locations, including Florida, to collect cash and gold from elderly victims. During the sentencing hearing, one victim said the fraud forced him to sell his house and live solely off Social Security.
In December 2023, Patel went to a residence in Hillsborough County expecting to collect a box of gold. He was unaware that law enforcement was monitoring him. He was arrested shortly after picking up the box.
“Preying on vulnerable, unsuspecting elderly victims to rob them of their hard-earned money is despicable,” said Robert Engel, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Tampa Field Office. “Even worse, the defendant’s co-conspirators posed as government agents to defraud victims of nearly $2 million, threatening them with arrest if they didn’t follow their demands.”
Engel credited the investigative work of the U.S. Secret Service, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer L. Peresie and Maria Guzman.
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