(NewsNation) — Five Indian citizens living in Houston will spend more than six years in federal prison after admitting they were part of a fraud ring from 2019 to 2020 targeting hundreds of elderly victims nationwide, the Department of Justice announced.
The ring employed a range of schemes to dupe its victims, guiding them to transfer funds through a money transfer service like Western Union or MoneyGram, purchase gift cards and hand them over to the scammers or dispatch cash to pseudonymous recipients via FedEx or UPS.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt ordered MD Azad, 26; 30-year-old Sumit Kumar Singh; Himanshu Kumar, 26; 28-year-old MD Hasib; and Anirudha Kalkote, 26, to serve 78 months in federal prison.
“Anxiety, fear, humiliation and devastating financial loss are what these victims endured,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani in a release. “The criminals were relentless, preying on the elderly, often revictimizing their targets.”
During the individual hearings, the court received testimony in the form of impact letters detailing the hardships endured by nearly 200 victims.
In addition to their prison sentences, the defendants have been ordered to pay restitution to their victims. All non-U.S. citizens, they are expected to face deportation proceedings after serving their prison sentences.
