Indian student in US arrested for impersonating as federal agent, duping 78-year-old woman. What is the case?
A 21-year-old Indian student pursuing higher education in the United States was arrested by local police in North Carolina for his alleged involvement in fraudulent activities.
Kishan Kumar Singh, an Indian national, was arrested by the Guilford County Sheriff's Office (GCSO) in North Carolina after he allegedly tried to dupe a 78-year-old woman of her money by impersonating as a federal agent.
The incident came to light when the elderly woman from the Stokesdale area began receiving threatening phone calls from unidentified individuals. They introduced themselves as federal agents and deputies. They misled the woman into believing that her bank accounts were compromised.
'Sheriff Danny H Rogers reports that deputies arrested 21-year-old Kishan Kumar Singh, an international student from India, after he tried to scam a 78-year-old woman by pretending to be law enforcement,' the sheriff's office said in an official statement.
"The victim was told her bank accounts were compromised and was pressured into withdrawing a large amount of money for 'safekeeping. Deputies arrested Singh when he showed up to collect the package as a 'federal agent.' He's now in the Guilford County Detention Center under a $1 million bond, facing felony charges including Attempted Obtaining Property by False Pretenses and Exploitation of an Elder Adult," the statement added.
The scamsters falsely told the elderly woman on the phone that her name was linked to criminal activity elsewhere in the country and that her bank accounts had been compromised, the authorities said.
Then the victim was coerced into withdrawing a large sum of money for so-called "safekeeping."
The police arrested Kishan Kumar Singh when he arrived at the woman's residence to collect the money under the guise of being a federal agent.
Singh is currently lodged at the Guilford County Detention Center on a $1 million bond and faces multiple felony charges, including 'Attempted Obtaining Property by False Pretenses' and 'Exploitation of an Elder Adult'.
According to the authorities, Singh had been living in the United States since 2024 on a student visa. He was residing near Cincinnati, Ohio.
First Published: 5 May 2025, 05:49 PM IST
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
2 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Gambling ring bust: 14 held from hotel with Rs 25.3 lakh in Mohali
In a major crackdown on illegal gambling and fraud, the Mohali police raided KC Royal Hotel at Zirakpur and arrested 14 individuals involved in operating a betting and fraud racket. The raid led to the seizure of Rs 25.3 lakh in Indian currency, 19 mobile phones, playing cards, a betting register (net book), seven cars, and one Activa scooter. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harmandeep Singh Hans, addressing a press conference Wednesday, said that the operation was conducted under a special campaign. The arrests were made based on a tip-off received by Station House Officer (SHO) Satinder Singh of Zirakpur police station, who led the raid with his team. 'We received specific information that the owner of KC Royal Hotel, Senti, along with his manager, was luring innocent people with promises of high returns and operating a betting racket on the hotel's third floor,' SSP Hans said. An FIR was registered under sections 3 and 4 of the Gambling Act and Section 318(4) of the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita). The arrested individuals were identified as Ravi from Dhakoli, Surinder Singh, Shivam, Anil Kumar and Sunil Kumar, residents of Chandigarh, Vijay Kumar, Arvind Kumar from Abohar, Naveen Kumar from Ganganagar, Ashok Kumar from Panchkula, Sukhjinder Singh from Moga, Pitabeer from Baltana, Subhash Chandra, Ashok Kumar from Panchkula, and Raj Bahadur, a Nepal national. Police are conducting in-depth interrogations, and major revelations are expected during the ongoing investigation, said SSP.
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
13 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Adani group plans Airport unit IPO by 2027, hastens $100 billion capex
By P R Sanjai and Saikat Das Billionaire Gautam Adani's group is gearing up to list its airports unit by 2027, as part of an ambitious growth plan that entails investing $100 billion across businesses over the next few years. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd., India's largest private-sector airport operator, will likely be spun off and listed by March 2027, according to Adani Group executives who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the details aren't public. Currently owned by the flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd., the firm operates eight Indian airports and will be opening a new terminal on the outskirts of Mumbai in a few months time. The ports-to-power conglomerate has also doubled the pace of its capital spending plan and now intends to plow $100 billion in five to six years instead of spreading it out over a decade as announced before, the executives said. The investments will be used to scale up energy, logistics and infrastructure businesses, they added. An Adani Group representative did not respond to an email seeking comments. The accelerated investment and listing plans point to how the group led by Asia's second-richest person is back to fundraising and rapid growth mode. It was pummeled by short seller Hindenburg Research's corporate fraud allegations in 2023 and then rattled by the US Department of Justice's bribery probe against its founder in November that also derailed some of Adani's overseas projects. Adani Group has denied allegations made in both the cases. In mounting evidence that it's business-as-usual at the Adani Group after the spate of recent setbacks, Gautam Adani traveled to China last week to meet industrial equipment manufacturers in what appears to be his first significant overseas trip since the DOJ indictment. There's no clarity on the agenda for the China trip. Metals Unit IPO The Adani Group plans to borrow $30 billion from domestic and international markets to bankroll its massive investment plan, the executives said. Internal accruals will finance the rest with about $50 billion likely from the group's listed companies, they added. Newer assets, including airports, roads, and renewable energy projects, should bring in another $20 billion by 2030 by when the metals business will likely be listed as well, the executives said. Adani Group, with interests stretching from ports to green energy and cement to media, is also back to luring overseas investors, even as it navigates DoJ's ongoing investigation into its founder. It raised about $750 million for an acquisition in April, with BlackRock Inc. subscribing to about a third of the bond issue. In May, its ports unit raised $150 million from DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in a bilateral loan. Adani Airports this month secured $750 million via external commercial borrowings from international banks.
New Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Bengaluru overtakes Chennai in number of seizures of exotic wildlife species
CHENNAI: A few years after Chennai being internationally identified as the Indian hub for exotic wildlife species smuggled from south-east Asian countries, official data obtained through RTI on the number of seizures indicates that the 'crown' now belongs to Bengaluru in Karnataka. Customs officials at Bengaluru airport in 2024-25 made 23 seizures of exotic species smuggled from Thailand and Malaysia; in comparison, their counterparts at Chennai airport made only around 10 such seizures during the same period. In contrast, Chennai airport had witnessed 17 such seizures in 2023-24, while in Bengaluru, there were only four. Mumbai is also emerging as another destination for wildlife smugglers, as the airport recorded around 10 seizures in 2024-25, up from only one or two in the previous year. However, investigators contend that the same international syndicates are at play and have just shifted the landing points of the contraband due to stringent vigil by enforcement agencies at Chennai. This is evidenced by the fact that many carriers arrested at Bengaluru airport are natives of Tamil Nadu - from Chennai, Tiruchirapalli and nearby central TN districts, and Ramanathapuram and Sivagangai in southern TN. Investigators have also identified links to Tamil kingpins in Thailand and Malaysia who are already in the Customs radar. The thumb rule in Customs is that only 10% of the smuggled contraband is intercepted, indicating the magnitude of the illegal trade. The smuggled animals fuel the thriving pet trade market across India; they are sold through social media applications and other stores.
