A major scam that targeted elderly people across the United States has led to prison time for five people, with one of the key accused now sentenced by a US court, according to DOJ. A 43-year-old man, Sital Singh, has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a large fraud operation that tricked elderly victims into handing over millions of dollars. The sentence was handed down by US District Judge Matthew T Schelp in St. Louis, Missouri.
According to United States Department of Justice, court also directed Singh to pay $6.6 million in restitution to those who were cheated.
Singh was not acting alone. Accordijng to DOJ, four others, including Dariona Lambert, 24; Zhamoniq Stevens, 24; Chintankumar Parekh, 52; and Mehulkumar Darji, 42, were also part of the same scheme. All five pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Both Parekh and Darji have also been sentenced to four years in prison. Lambert has been given a two-year sentence, while Stevens has been sentenced to 18 months.
Indian origin man sentenced in US for running an elderly scam ring
According to investigators, Lambert and Stevens worked as couriers. They were the ones who went to victims’ homes and picked up gold bars or coins. Singh, Parekh and Darji were described as “handlers.” Their job was to coordinate the operation, collect the gold, and pay the couriers in cash.
The scam began with callers from overseas who would reach out to elderly people through phone calls and messages. They would falsely claim that the victims’ savings or retirement accounts had been compromised.
The victims were then told they needed to act fast to “secure” their money. They were asked to convert their savings into gold bars or coins and hand them over. Authorities believe the overseas network made around $9.3 million from victims.
The St. Louis case that exposed the scam
According to DHS, an 82-year-old woman in St. Louis was contacted by someone pretending to be from a computer software support team. She was told her accounts were at risk. She was instructed to buy nearly $250,000 worth of gold bars.
On May 1, 2024, Dariona Lambert flew from Gainesville, Florida, to St. Louis to collect the gold. Chintankumar Parekh rented a car and drove her to a parking lot near the woman’s home. From there, Lambert took a rideshare to complete the pickup.
But law enforcement officers were already tracking the case. Lambert was intercepted at the victim’s home. After she informed Parekh that she had been caught, he fled to Pittsburgh.
The scam was spread across multiple cities and states. Singh handled gold pickups in places like Collierville, Tennessee, Universal City, Texas, and Greendale, Wisconsin.
Parekh coordinated collections in Yuma and Scottsdale in Arizona; Placentia and La Jolla in California; Largo in Florida; Chapel Hill in North Carolina; and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Darji managed pickups in Scottsdale, Largo and La Jolla.
Lambert carried out courier runs in Scottsdale, Placentia, La Jolla, Largo, Universal City, Hanover, Massachusetts, and Erie, Pennsylvania.
According to the authorities, Parekh and Darji are living in the United States unlawfully and will be deported after completing their prison terms. Parekh had overstayed his work visa, while Darji had been removed from the country in 2014.
FBI St. Louis Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker strongly condemned the crime and the people behind it.
“Sital Singh and his co-conspirators in the US and overseas are parasites. Their crimes devastated their elderly victims by robbing them of their life savings. In one example, an elderly couple in their 90s lost all the money they had saved to ensure their disabled adult child would be taken care of for life,” he said.
“The FBI will continue to aggressively dismantle these types of organised networks operating in the US while working with our international law enforcement partners to go after the ringleaders overseas.”