Tampa’s Patel Sentenced for Money Laundering & Illegal Money Transmits

Tampa’s Pratikbhai Patel has been sentenced to three years and five months in federal prison for his role in a money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. The 32-year-old Tampa resident also agreed to pay over $650,000 in restitution and forfeiture obligations.

Patel had previously pled guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering on March 26, 2025, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business on April 23, 2025. According to court documents, Patel served as a ‘runner’ for an overseas call center scheme between July and October 2018, where he received wired funds from victims and quickly withdrew the money before they could dispute the transfer.

In a separate case, Patel used business accounts under the names ‘Tampa Smoke Shop LLC’ and ‘Mamba Distro LLC’ to make same-day cash deposits and complete 235 wire transfers without any known business purpose. He was never licensed by the State of Florida to operate a money transmitting business.

Special Agent in Charge Ron Loecker of the IRS Criminal Investigation Tampa Field Office emphasized the impact of Patel’s actions on vulnerable victims, stating, ‘The defendant preyed on vulnerable victims to satisfy his greed.’ The IRS-CI will continue to collaborate with law enforcement partners to protect communities from such schemes.

This investigation was led by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Suzanne Huyler and Dan Baeza. It is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations.

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