ATLANTA, GA – A husband and wife from Lexington, South Carolina, are facing the consequences after pleading guilty to laundering over $500,000 for a sophisticated network of India-based phone scammers preying on American citizens. Mehulkumar Manubhai Patel, 36, and Chaitali Dave, 36, knowingly facilitated a scheme that bilked vulnerable individuals, including the elderly, out of their life savings.
Federal prosecutors revealed the pair acted as crucial money mules, retrieving cash sent by victims who were conned through elaborate Social Security and tech support scams. The India-based call centers posed as federal agents, threatening victims with arrest and asset forfeiture unless they immediately wired or mailed funds. In other instances, scammers feigned providing tech support, demanding payment for services never rendered – and even gaining remote access to victims’ bank accounts. The couple used false identifications to collect packages of cash mailed to aliases controlled by the broader fraud network.
“Dave and Patel helped criminal India-based call centers prey on and steal from vulnerable members of our community,” stated U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “While posing as federal agents or tech support, the call centers instructed victims to mail packages of cash that Patel and Dave retrieved using fake identifications. This case exists as an example of our commitment to investigating and prosecuting those who facilitate foreign-based scams.” The scheme, active from May 2019 to January 2020, saw dozens of victims, including residents of Georgia, sending their hard-earned money directly into the hands of the criminal enterprise.
The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General played a key role in the investigation, alongside the U.S. Secret Service and a multi-state task force. Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for Social Security, emphasized the importance of a coordinated approach. “These guilty pleas demonstrate the value of a coordinated, multi-agency approach to combating overseas telephone scams by targeting their facilitators in the United States,” she said. Commissioner of Social Security Andrew Saul warned the public: “People should just hang up and then go online to oig.ssa.gov to report these scams.”
Patel pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg on September 1, 2020, while Dave entered her guilty plea on October 6, 2020. Sentencing dates have not yet been announced. The investigation involved assistance from law enforcement agencies in New York, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, and Virginia. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Schulman is prosecuting the case.
This case serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of international fraud schemes and the importance of vigilance. Authorities urge anyone targeted by similar scams to immediately report it to the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General and to never provide personal or financial information to unsolicited callers. The network’s reach is extensive, and investigators are continuing to unravel the full scope of the operation and bring all those responsible to justice.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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