Kamal Ghorui
Two Indian-origin men have been charged in a phone scam and mail fraud in Georgia.
Two Indian-origin men, Mihir Patel and Himanshubhai Barot, have been charged in a major mail fraud that took place in 2021 when the duo called people across the US, claiming they were from law enforcement or other organizations. They asked their victims to send them large amounts of cash, between $10,000 to $30,000, by mail to specific businesses in Central Georgia. The court records, as reported by Georgia’s 13WMaz, revealed that this scheme, which they ran for 15 days between March 1 and March 15, 2021, was successful. At least seven victims sent money from other states to Georgia’s Houston County and Bibb County, as part of the scam. They were told that they had to send the money to protect their “legal and financial interests”. The prosecutors revealed the exact trail of the money — where it was sent from and its destination.$20,500 from Oregon: sent to Perry$10,000 from Nevada: sent to Perry$16,000 from Maryland: sent to Warner Robins$10,000 from New York: sent to Kathleen$20,000 from California: sent to Macon$10,000 from California: sent to Warner Robins$30,000 from Minnesota: sent to Warner RobinsSo all the money came to various Georgia cities from different states and all were addressed to one “David Williams”. The money was sent in cash to stores and Patel would show up with a fake ID with the name David Williams to retrieve the packages. After retrieving the packages, they would take photos and videos of the packages being opened with the cash inside and share them with other conspirators. Prosecutors said Barot was in the country illegally at the time the scam took place. Both of them have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud for a scam that has spread across the United States. The indictment was handed down on March 10. The US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia is also seeking to seize any funds or property that stem from the scheme.
