Rishi Budhadev, Wire Fraud, Pennsylvania 2015

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania - In a brazen scheme, Rishi Budhadev, 37, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

According to the investigation, Budhadev admitted to receiving a series of fraudulent MoneyGram money transfers from several individuals he did not know in October 2015. He also admitted to receiving a fraudulent deposit for $9,000 in his checking account from a person he did not know that same month.

Budhadev admitted to using the proceeds of the fraudulent MoneyGram money transfers to purchase iPhones, which he delivered to a co-conspirator located in India in February 2016. He also admitted to personally withdrawing the $9,000 in cash from his bank account the same day that it was deposited and later delivering the cash to the same co-conspirator in India around February 2016.

The government’s investigation determined that Budhadev, working with other unnamed co-conspirators, defrauded victims using common advance-fee mass marketing scams. During a roughly two-month time period from October 2015 to December 2015, the government found that Budhadev received around 500 MoneyGram money orders worth over $500,000, including about 300 MoneyGram money orders worth over $407,000 from more than 250 senders that he picked up from seven different Walmart stores.

Budhadev admitted to receiving a subset of these transactions in connection with his guilty plea. His actions led to at least 50 people being identified as victims of various scams, including investment scams, romance scams, person-in-need scams, internet purchase scams, IRS tax scams, and loan scams.

The case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case.

Budhadev faces a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/virginia-man-pleads-guilty-conspiracy-commit-wire-fraud