Hemalkumar Shah, Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Florida 2019
A Tampa man has been sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in federal prison for his role in an international call center scam.
Hemalkumar Shah, a 27-year-old citizen of India residing in Tampa, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
As part of his sentence, the court also entered a money judgment of $80,000.
Shah had pleaded guilty on January 28, 2019.
According to court documents, from 2014 through at least 2016, Shah conspired with U.S.-based co-conspirators and India-based call centers to extort money from U.S. residents by impersonating IRS officers and misleading victims to believe that they owed money to the IRS and would be arrested and fined if they did not pay their alleged back taxes immediately.
The conspirators collected the fraud proceeds by withdrawing cash from prepaid cards purchased and funded by victims, hiring runners to retrieve money wired by victims, or hiring runners to open bank accounts into which victims deposited fraud proceeds.
Four others have previously pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme. Alejandro Juarez was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison, and Nishitkumar Patel was sentenced to 8 years and 9 months' imprisonment. Sharvil Patel and Brenda Dozier are currently awaiting sentencing.
This case was investigated by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Tampa Police Department, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel K. Jones.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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