Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski stated that the US government is targeting the “India-based call center scam industry” when announcing the extradition of an Indian man from Singapore accused of running a multi-million-dollar swindle.
“This extradition once again demonstrates the (Justice) Department’s unwavering commitment to disrupt and destroy the India-based call center scam industry and to work with our foreign partners to hold accountable those who continue to perpetrate schemes that defraud our citizens,” he added.
“This historic extradition should serve as notification to transnational criminal organizations about the lengths DHS (Department of Homeland Security) is willing to go to catch those who would enrich themselves by extorting the most vulnerable in our society,” said David Green, Special Agent in Charge of the DHS Houston Field Office.
He threatened global action against the owners, managers, and employees of international call centers, stating, “Our pursuit of justice for sufferers of their scams does not stop at the water’s edge.”
The India-based call centers reportedly impersonated tax or immigration officers. And contacted people in the US, threatening them with jail or deportation. If they did not pay what they said were unpaid taxes or fines, according to the chargesheet filed.
According to officials, scammers in the conspiracy would call customers. And inform them that their assets and bank accounts had been seized by agents from several law enforcement agencies. They discovered their bank account information at crime scenes involving drug gangs in Mexico and Colombia.
New Delhi police proclaimed around 4,500 Americans were duped. Officials believe that more than $14 million was moved over two years.
When their victims agreed to pay, the call center employees arranged for payments. Which was collected in the form of shop cards or wire transfers by their co-conspirators in the United States. They cashed them frequently using stolen identities and laundered the funds, according to the allegations. In other cases, they gave clients false loans and charged fees for loans that never materialized.
According to Treasury Inspector General J. Russell George, the tax official impersonation fraud “has been on a relentless path, collecting more than 15,000 victims who have collectively experienced over $75 million in losses” since 2013. In recent weeks, at least three people of Indian heritage have received prison sentences for impersonating tax officials.
On Thursday, a federal judge in Florida sentenced an Indian to eight and a half years in prison. While another Indian was sentenced to eight years and nine months the previous month. Separately, a federal judge in Atlanta sentenced Indian to 16 months in prison earlier this month.