On June 23, 2022, in the Eastern District of New York, Kamal Zafar pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to a Department of Justice press release dated August 19, 2022, the conspiracy was related to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) impersonation scam.

According to the court documents, between January 2018 and September 2018, Zafar and his co-conspirators engaged in a fraudulent telephone call and internet retail scam directed at thousands of individuals across the United States. As part of the scam, telemarketing call centers in India were used to place calls seeking to defraud victims of money by various fraudulent scenarios. The callers claimed to be employees of the IRS, the Social Security Administration, or the Drug Enforcement Administration. The victims were informed that they owed money to the United States Government or one of its agents, and that they would be arrested if the debts were not immediately paid.

Victims wired payments to bank accounts that Zafar and his co-conspirators opened in the names of various inactive and shell corporations. Once received, the funds were withdrawn and laundered through additional bank accounts. In total, Zafar and his co-conspirators received approximately $2.3 million dollars from the victims through the scam.

At sentencing, Zafar could receive a maximum term of 20 years’ imprisonment.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: E.D.N.Y., Judgement, filed June 2, 2022; E.D.N.Y., Sup. Indict., filed June 8, 2022; E.D.N.Y., Plea Agr., filed June 23, 2022; and E.D.N.Y. Press Release, dated August 26, 2019.