A South Boston man has been arrested and federally charged in connection with an alleged scheme that defrauded a 75-year-old man of about $420,000.
Urvishkumar Patel, 21, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The feds allege that the 75-year-old man from Berkshire County in June received a pop-up message on his computer claiming that his computer was frozen. The message contained a phone number, which the victim believed to be associated with Microsoft, and directed the victim to call for assistance.
The 75-year-old man then called the phone number listed in the pop-up and allegedly spoke with a person before being transferred to another individual who called himself, “Sam Wilson.”
Wilson allegedly claimed to be a federal agent with the U.S. Treasury Department and purported to confirm the victim’s name and address. When the 75-year-old man said that was not the correct address, Wilson provided additional addresses until the victim identified his correct address.
Wilson then allegedly told the victim that his name and address were listed as being involved in a money laundering scheme, and that the “Treasury” showed a number of houses had been purchased in the U.S. and Russia in the victim’s name.
Wilson allegedly told the victim that he was going to help him get out of this trouble and would speak to a judge but that, in the meantime, the victim needed to safeguard his money from being further implicated in the supposed money laundering scheme.
Specifically, Wilson allegedly told the victim he should withdraw cash from his bank and send it to the Treasury Department, where it would be kept in a lock box until the victim was cleared of the scheme.
Wilson also allegedly cautioned that the bank would not let the victim withdraw all of his money at once – directing the victim to make the withdrawals in smaller amounts and send it to Wilson at the “Treasury” in installments.
Then on five separate occasions over the course of three months, the victim withdrew and provided about $420,000 in cash to several individuals he believed to be associated with “Sam Wilson.”
On each occasion, Wilson asked the victim how much he could withdraw from his bank account, directed the victim to place the cash in a taped box with the victim’s own name and address written on it.
Wilson also allegedly told the victim a specific date and time at which he would send a courier for the cash.
On each occasion, the courier would pull alongside the curb in front of the victim’s house, lower one of the passenger side windows and provide a prearranged “PIN” passcode to the victim. The victim would then place the box of cash into the courier’s vehicle, who would then drive away.
The victim’s sister reported this activity to law enforcement on Oct. 1. According to the charging documents, Patel a few days ago served as the courier waiting outside of the victim’s home and was approached by an undercover officer posing as the victim.
After allegedly receiving the prearranged “PIN” passcode from Patel, the undercover officer placed the box into Patel’s vehicle and Patel quickly drove away. He was immediately apprehended.
At the time of his arrest, Patel was allegedly driving a rental car and was actively engaged in a WhatsApp call on his cell phone. Patel allegedly told law enforcement that he had been collecting packages for weeks at the direction of another individual in exchange for payment.
Patel also allegedly told law enforcement that he would deliver each package to a prearranged location before receiving his payment.
Patel was arrested by the feds and subsequently released by the court on conditions, including GPS monitoring and orders that he remain in Massachusetts.