A former Jackson resident and Indian national, Lovepreet Singh, has been sentenced to serve 15 months in prison and pay $4,710 in restitution after pleading guilty to money laundering and firearms offenses.
The sentencing occurred in March 2021 in Jackson, Mississippi. Singh was originally charged with acts supporting a conspiracy defrauding multiple victims, as part of an international tech support and telemarketing fraud scheme.
According to the indictment and testimony in court, beginning in 2015 and continuing through 2018, Singh conspired with nine other defendants, located across the United States and in India, to commit the federal offenses of wire fraud, mail fraud, and bank fraud, in addition to offenses of money laundering, aggravated identity theft, and passing fictitious obligations.
Conspirators in Mississippi and elsewhere would obtain the telephone numbers and email addresses of computers belonging to various individuals throughout the United States. Conspirators established and operated various business entities such as World Tech Assistance, and US Support Inc., in Mississippi and elsewhere in the United States. Conspirators engaged telephone calling centers in India, which would place calls to the United States numbers and appear to be coming from United States-based toll-free numbers.
Conspirators would call victims in the United States, advising the victims that malware and ransomware were infecting the victims’ computers and devices, and that the victims should contact the conspirators for assistance. Conspirators misrepresented themselves as “Apple Support” or “Microsoft” or other legitimate and known technical support services, and offered their assistance to remove the software, in return for payment.
Victims responded to the conspirators’ phone calls and pop up messages to send monies and payments, by wire, check and other means. Victims also granted conspirators access to the victims’ bank accounts and to the victims’ computers, permitting the conspirators to further enrich themselves by fraudulent appropriation and taking of the money and property of the victims.
In March 2021, Singh pled guilty to one count of money laundering, in that Singh admitted to receiving and transmitting money obtained by his codefendants as a result of the fraud scheme, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the United States Marshals Service who assisted with the nationwide search and arrests of defendants. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.
Singh’s sentence is a result of his conviction for money laundering and firearms offenses. He will serve 15 months in prison and pay $4,710 in restitution.
The tech support scam that Lovepreet Singh was a part of resulted in victims sending money and payments to conspirators in Mississippi and in India. Conspirators in Mississippi would also send payments and monies to their co-conspirators in India. The case highlights the importance of being cautious when receiving phone calls and pop up messages from unknown individuals.
The sentencing occurred in March 2021 in Jackson, Mississippi.
Key Facts
- State: Mississippi
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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