Man sentenced to more than 7 years in national scam that stole $80,000 from Fairborn man
Apr. 16—A man was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for his role in a national phone scam that stole $80,000 in cash from a Fairborn man.
U.S. Southern District of Ohio Judge Thomas Rose sentenced Pratik B. Patel to 90 months prison, or eight and a half years.
Once Patel serves the sentence he'll be on supervised release for three years.
In January, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to court records.
He was accused of participating in a phone scam targeting older adults across the U.S.
Patel was based in Chicago and traveled to Fairborn, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia to collect and try to collect money from victims.
He stole $80,000 in cash from a 75-year-old Fairborn man in just over a month, according to a federal complaint.
On Nov. 28, 2023, the Fairborn man received a call from a woman claiming to from Amazon about suspicious activity on his account.
He was transferred to a person posing as a Federal Trade Commission officer, who said there were 32 bank accounts and 17 credit cards linked to the victim's Social Security number, according to court documents.
They also claimed the man was being investigated for owning rental properties tied to drug activity and possible money laundering.
"(The scammer) presented (the man) with three options: (a) cooperate with the FTC which would endanger (the man) and his family, (b) fight the charges in federal court, or (c) work with (the scammer) to segregate the clean money from the illicit money by making deposits into U.S. government-controlled accounts," court records stated.
In November and December, he moved tens of thousands of dollars from different accounts. The victim received a cashier's check for approximately $150,000 and deposited it to an account the scammer provided at a Middletown Bank of America, according to court records.
On two occasions, he withdrew $40,000 in cash to give to a so-called logistics team.
"Once the money was withdrawn, (the scammer) instructed (the man) to place the $40,000 in a box, put white paper over the top, seal the box, wrap it in white paper and write 'The Court' on the outside," according to court records. "(The man) stated he also wrote his return address in the corner. (The scammer) requested (the man) to provide him with pictures of every step of (him) packaging the money."
The "logistics team" would schedule a drop with the man and pick up the money outside his house.
On Jan. 5, 2024, law enforcement contacted the man and said he was the victim of a scam.
The man blocked all numbers associated with the scammer but unblocked them later that month to help a U.S. Secret Service task force set up a sting operation.
A special agent helped the man take staged photos to send to the scammer and use counterfeit money to set up another drop.
On Feb. 7, 2024, the scammer reportedly said a logistics team was nearby and to stand outside with the money.
A special agent went outside and placed the decoy box in the front passenger seat of a Dodge Challenger. Fairborn police stopped the car when it tried to leave.
Patel was identified as the driver of the Dodge.
He claimed a person called Jeck told him to collect the money, according to court records.
"According to Patel, Jeck always provided the pickup addresses and required him to video the collected money," the criminal complaint read. "Once the pickup was completed and after a thorough count, Patel was then instructed to place the money, or in some instances gold, into a backpack and directed to a given parking lot where he would meet another unknown individual."
Patel told investigators he did seven pick ups and was paid $500 to $1,500 for each one, according to court records.
He claimed his visa was scheduled to expire on Feb. 17, 2024, and needed the money to fly his family back to India.
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