On April 25, 2023, in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Sunil Patel, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  

From December 2015, and continuing through June 2016, Patel and other members of a wire fraud scheme called victims and made misrepresentations to them. The victims were directed to send a MoneyGram to a specific location and to a specific, fictitious name. Members of the scheme called a victim and pretended to be law enforcement. The caller informed the victim that they owed money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for unpaid taxes. The caller told the victim if they did not pay, they would be immediately arrested and go to jail. The caller would then instruct the victim to send a MoneyGram to a defined location and to a specific, fictitious name. Patel possessed fraudulent driver's licenses that included the fictitious names of the recipients of the MoneyGrams. He used these fraudulent driver's licenses to pick up the MoneyGrams. The total amount of loss caused by the scheme is not known. However, Patel used at least two different identities to receive over $33,000 from at least 20 fraudulent transactions.

At sentencing, Patel faces a maximum prison term of 20 years, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a maximum of three years of supervised release.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: E.D. Wis, Change of Plea Hearing, filed Apr. 25, 2023; and E.D. Wis, Indictment, filed July 26, 2016.