Two More International Fraud Ring Members Sentenced for Bilking Elderly Victims

U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said Jayesh J. Panchal, 55, of Hicksville, N.Y., and Vijaya C. Shetty, 53, of Flushing, N.Y., were among seven individuals indicted in a scheme that stole over $11 million from 50 victims. One victim in Michigan was bilked out of $398,000 by the fraud ring, which was based in India, according to an indictment obtained by The Daily Muck.

Panchal was sentenced to 78 months in prison and ordered to pay almost $8 million in restitution to his victims. Shetty received a 63-month sentence and must pay almost $600,000 in restitution, according to a court judgment obtained by The Daily Muck.

Both pled guilty earlier this year, Shetty in February and Panchal in April. U.S. District Judge Jane M. Beckering said the defendants engaged in a “horrific” scheme that “preyed upon some of our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly.” The judge said the victims “worked, saved, and scrimped their whole lives and now have little or nothing to live on,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s press release.

In the Aug. 16 statement, Totten said his office “teamed up with multiple law enforcement partners to pinpoint and punish these fraudsters who preyed on vulnerable elderly victims, and we’ll continue to aggressively chase these criminals wherever they strike. Raising awareness of elder fraud is critical to help protect our older loved ones from losing their life savings to these types of crimes.”

Three Others Sentenced Previously

Three other ring members were sentenced earlier this year for their role in the conspiracy.

On May 17, Jmyla Elaine Sha’Taria White, 29, of Thonotosassa, Fla., and McKhaela Katelynn McNamara, 28, of Flint, Mich., were sentenced by Beckering – White to 97 months in federal prison and ordered to pay over $3.2 million in restitution to victims, and McNamara to 51 months in prison and restitution of almost $700,000, Totten announced in a press release.

“Our seniors are being targeted by financial scammers at an alarming rate,” Totten said in announcing those sentences. “My office is committed to educating the public about financial schemes that inflict financial harm and defraud unsuspecting victims of their hard-earned money.”

Beckering called this case “one of the most reprehensible fraud schemes I have seen. This wasn’t just a theft of money. It was a theft of dignity and a theft of security. This was a heinous crime that devastated people who worked hard their whole lives, and now their money is gone.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson said White and McNamara “participated in an elaborate fraud conspiracy that targeted mostly elderly victims, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars. Every day, fraudsters are becoming more clever and organized to steal citizens’ hard-earned money, so it is important to report these crimes to the FBI for help.”

Jorrel Tyler Jackson, 31, of Seffner, Florida, was sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison on April 26, Totten announced. Beckering also ordered him to pay almost $1.6 million to 22 victims he defrauded.

“Crimes that exploit seniors can be devastating, depriving victims of their savings, their independence, and their dignity,” Totten said in an April 26 press release.

Sixth To Be Sentenced; Leader Trial Pending

Totten said defendant Everette Thibou, 30, of Tampa, Fla., who pled guilty July 9 will be sentenced Oct. 31. The case against alleged “ringleader,” Pragneshbhai Patel, 51, of Amityville, N.Y., is still pending, according to Western District Court documents.

Thibou was arrested in June 2020 for participating in a similar scheme in Lancaster County, Pa. and other media outlets at the time, a box containing $29,000 was sent from a 90-year-old woman in California to a hardware store in New Holland, Pa., according to a report by Lancaster Online, a local media outlet.

The business owner called police, who retrieved the package. Soon after, the business called police again to report that a man was at the store to retrieve the package. Police responded and arrested Thibou.

The victim in that incident told police she sent one package of cash to the New Holland address and another with $25,000 to an address in Indiana. Thibou told investigators the woman thought the money she sent was for computer repairs.

The indictment calls for the court to compel forfeiture of the defendants’ cash and personal property they derived from their illegal activities. This includes almost $11.5 million of “proceeds traceable to the offense charged in the indictment” and another $361,239 seized at various times from March 2022 to July 2023.

A Familiar Scam

Many computer owners have received pop-up messages and recognized them as a scams. Prosecutors noted that elderly citizens are more susceptible and vulnerable to this kind of fraud.

The fraud begins with a pop-up warning the person their computer has a virus or something similar. Victims are given a phone number to call to remedy the problem. The person on the other end of that phone number claims to work for a company such as Microsoft or Apple but are actually scammers sitting in India. They scare their victims into giving them money through various schemes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notes in its press releases on the case.

One lie was that their bank accounts had been hacked, and they needed to withdraw their money and give it to a “federal agent” for safekeeping. Another is that the computer is infected by a virus, and they need immediate technical support. A third is that they are identified in a criminal investigation and need to provide money to clear their name.

The money was sent in boxes of cash to addresses provided by the criminals, wire transfers to bank accounts, or through gift cards purchased at the instruction of the fraudsters.