The ringleader of a group of Indian college students doing hospitality industry internships in the U.S. who cheated more than 20 people out of nearly $1 million in a tech support telemarketing scam has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Federal authorities say 21-year-old Bishwajeet Kumar Jha was sentenced June 10 in Providence, Rhode Island and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined.
The victims believed they had purchased technology support. They were told that money had been erroneously refunded to their bank accounts by the tech support company and were asked to return the erroneous refund to Jha and others. One victim reportedly lost more than $174,000.
The telemarketing scam was interrupted by Newport Police on November 20, 2018, when, as part of the investigation, detectives executed a court-authorised search of the residence of Jha and the other members of the conspiracy.
During the search, police seized numerous items related to the operation of the scam.
A subsequent investigation determined that after the co-conspirators operating in Newport shared some of the proceeds of the scheme, large sums of money garnered from the scheme were transferred to a bank account in California. From there, the majority of funds were transferred internationally to India, China, and Singapore.
“The Department of Justice takes very seriously, and will advocate for the imposition of substantial criminal penalties for targeting vulnerable, especially elderly, victims through the commission of federal crimes such as this,” said US Attorney Aaron L Weisman.
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