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May 21, 2019

Indian National Extradited to the United States to Face Charges for His Role in a Complex Impersonation Scam

According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, Hitesh Madhubhai Patel has been extradited to the United States to face charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy, in connection with his leadership role in a multimillion-dollar India-based call center scam which targeted U.S. victims. A Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) special agent was part of the team that extradited Patel from Singapore to the Southern District of Texas, where his initial appearance was held on April 19, 2019. Patel was previously indicted for the offenses in October 2016, along with 55 other individuals and five call centers, in what was at that time the largest single domestic law enforcement action involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) impersonation scam.

TIGTA Inspector General J. Russell George stated, “TIGTA’s investigations, often conducted with other Federal agencies, have identified 140 scammers, including Patel, who have preyed upon taxpayers. Today’s extradition and arraignment are proof that TIGTA and its law enforcement partners will be equally relentless in rooting out individuals who fraudulently identify themselves as IRS employees in order to extort money from taxpayers. We especially appreciate the cooperation of the Government of Singapore for its role in the extradition.”

According to the court documents, Patel was identified as an operator of the India-based call center HGlobal. From about January 2012 and continuing until about October 2016, Patel and his coconspirators participated in a complex scheme to defraud U.S. residents by misleading them into sending money in connection with several different scams. In one of the scams, the coconspirators impersonated IRS officers to defraud U.S. residents by misleading them into believing that they owed money to the IRS and that they would be arrested and fined if they did not pay the alleged back taxes immediately. In another one of the scams, the coconspirators impersonated U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers to defraud U.S. residents by misleading them into believing that they would be deported unless they immediately paid a fine for alleged problems with their USCIS paperwork

These complex fraud schemes resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses by the victims. More than 15,000 known victims have incurred losses attributable to scam calls, and upwards of 50,000 individuals have had their identities misappropriated based on the unauthorized use of their Personally Identifiable Information to register general purpose reloadable cards

Previously, between July 18, 2018 and July 20, 2018, in the Southern District of Texas, 21 defendants were sentenced for their roles in connection with this complex scam, with three others having been sentenced earlier in 2018. The cumulative total of the prison sentences for the 21 defendants sentenced in July 2018 exceeded 174 years.

Pending a detention hearing, Patel has been temporarily remanded to custody of the court.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: S.D. Tex. DOJ Press Release dated April 19, 2019; S.D. Tex. Superseding Indict. filed Oct. 19, 2016; S.D. Tex. Crim. Docket as of April 19, 2019; TIGTA Press Release dated Oct. 27, 2016; TIGTA Report for Aug. 20, 2018; and S.D. Tex. Order Scheduling Detention Hearing filed Apr. 19, 2019.