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Stock photo of an elderly woman on the phone looking at her credit card.
An Indian national residing in Seattle, WA, has pleaded guilty to federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei Nov. 4.
Aakash Gandhi, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud today before U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.
According to information presented in court, throughout the month of October 2020, a Beaumont resident received multiple phone calls from an individual – later identified as Gandhi – falsely purporting to be a special agent with the Social Security Administration. Gandhi demanded the victim send large sums of cash through the mail so they could receive a new social security number and avoid alleged criminal liability. The elderly Beaumont resident fell victim to the scam and sent more than $20,000 in cash through the mail as requested to a UPS store in Seattle. Gandhi received those packages in Seattle and forwarded a portion of those funds to his co-conspirators.
“There can be no doubt that phone scams are not merely a nuisance, but a genuine threat to the financial livelihood of all Americans,” said Ganjei. “Although phone scams continue to increase in number, EDTX is scaling up through staffing and training to meet and defeat this challenge.”
Gandhi was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 8 and faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).