Five linked to telemarketing fraud convicted: defrauded Americans of millions

PROVIDENCE, R.I (WLNE) –  Five India-based telemarketing fraudsters have been convicted in schemes that targeted and defrauded Americans of millions of dollars.

According to the United States Attorney of Rhode Island’s office, the majority of the victims were vulnerable to fraud due to age or infirmity.

All five of the Indian Nationals participated in schemes that operated out of call centers in India, such as “refund fraud” or “tech support.

They often obtained personal and banking information from the victims’ computers through remote access applications.

This information was used to steal or misappropriate funds.

Preying upon vulnerable men and women for financial gain by means of telemarketing is not only repellant, but violative of federal law; and, as demonstrated by the convictions announced today, law enforcement has no imperative but, and will not hesitate, to hold such defendants fully accountable to criminal process,” said United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman.

“These five men pilfered millions of dollars from unsuspecting victims all over the country, most of them senior citizens, leaving them in financial ruin without any recourse for recovery,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.

“Their conduct in this case is reprehensible, and this is just one example of our commitment to stopping financial scams and holding the people behind them accountable for their actions, no matter where they are”, he said.

The most recent defendant, 29-year-old Sahil Narang, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and ten counts of wire fraud.

Narang admitted to routing nearly 20,000 “tech fraud” scheme calls to centers in India, with approximately 7,524 of the callers remaining on the line.

The intended loss to victims was between $1.5 million and $3 million said the U.S Attorney’s office.

Additionally, Narang admitted to participating in a “refund scheme” by obtaining numbers of people already victimized by the “tech fraud scheme”.

In November, 30-year-old Chirag Sachdeva was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for his role as a fraudster

Sachdeva pled guilty on September 14, 2020, to seven counts of wire fraud.

In February, FBI agents arrested 34-year-old Abrar Anjum, 34, prior to his boarding a flight to India.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on January 11, 2021.

Manish Kumar, age 32, was arrested  August 24, 2019, as he landed in New York City from a flight from India, for his participation in two telemarketing schemes in addition to credit card fraud.

Kumar pled guilty on November 5, 2020, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Kumar is scheduled to be sentenced on January 20, 2021.

33-year-old Himanshu Asri pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and telemarketing wire fraud back in December.

Asri admitted he had 325 callers routed to centers in India where call operators falsely claimed the victims had malware in their computer.

The center operators offered victims protection services in exchange for payment.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 18, 2021.

©WLNE-TV/ABC6 2020