Indian student sentenced to 97 months in prison for multi-million dollar fraud scheme in Texas; phishing attack targeting elderly

Dhruv Rajeshbhai Mangukiya, a 21-year-old Indian student in the US has been sentenced to 97 months in prison along with a payment of $2,515,780 in restitution for conspiracy to commit money laundering, where he targeted elderly people and forced them to send gold, cash to him and his Indian co-conspirator through an elaborate scam.

Co-conspirator Kishan Rajeshkumar Patel was sentenced to 63 months in jail in June. Both pleaded guilty to the fraud. Mangukiya and Patel identified elderly individuals whom they contacted by phone, claiming to be officials from the government. They told the victims that they would need to make a deposit of cash, gold or other such items to resolve an investigation or prevent financial loss. A courier would coordinate the pickup of the deposits either from the victim's home or from the parking lot of a local business. In another case, they contacted an elderly woman and told her that they were from the Amazon fraud department. They told her that her social security number had been stolen and multiple bank accounts were opened in her name. Those accounts were used in a money laundering scheme. The woman was asked to pay $30,000 to clear her name from the 'scam'."Patel was arrested and his phones searched, revealing messages between Patel and Mangukiya, as well as two other individuals labeled as “Hunter” and “Master.” Mangukiya was arrested at his residence in New Jersey on Dec. 5, 2024. While executing a search warrant, agents found that Mangukiya possessed a printer used to print fake identification documents, along with $73,422.96 in cash. Mangukiya admitted that he would receive 2% of the fraud proceeds he received.

He also admitted that he had recruited Patel to be a courier, and that they were working with 'Hunter' and 'Master'," the Justice Department document said.