Indian national in US gets 5 years jail for call centre fraud
Darpan News Desk IANS, 09 Nov, 2022 12:12 PM
New York, Nov 9 (IANS) Waseem Maknojiya, a 38 year-old Indian national, has been sentenced to five years in prison by a Texas court for committing mail fraud and duping customers via Indian call centres.
Maknojiya, who was illegally residing in Houston, had pleaded guilty on September 13, 2021, a press statement by the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas said.
On Tuesday, US District Judge Lynn N. Hughes ordered Maknojiya to serve 60 months in federal prison.
Not an American citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.
Between April and October 2019, Maknojiya was involved in a telemarketing scheme via Indian call centres to extort money from victims in the US.
He acted as a runner in these schemes, using aliases and fake identification documents to pick up more than 70 parcels containing cash the scheme's victims had mailed, the press release stated.
One common script used in the scheme involved coercing victims into believing federal agents were investigating them.
The "agent" on the phone would convince the victim the only way to clear his or her name from investigation was to send cash in a parcel shipped through FedEx to a name and address they provided.
Runners in the US like Maknojiya would then pick up the parcels.
At the time of his plea, he agreed to pay restitution to the scheme's identified victims.
He will remain in custody pending transfer to a US Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Japanese authorities might soon allow people quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship near Tokyo, where 12 Canadians have contracted the novel coronavirus, to disembark and finish out their isolation on land.
"The Queen has been graciously pleased to approve the appointment of Rt Hon Rishi Sunak as Chancellor of the Exchequer," Downing Street said in an official press release.
A 32-year-old UAE-based Indian man sustained severe burn injuries while he tried to save his wife from a fire at their apartment in Umm Al Quwain, here, police said on Wednesday.
Saeed, a UN designated terrorist whom the US has placed a $10 million bounty on, was arrested on July 17 in the terror financing cases. He is lodged at the Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail in high security.
