Jury Convicts Indian National in $150 Million Elder Fraud Scheme

Sora Shimazaki/Pexels A federal jury in Austin, Texas, convicted an Indian national on Monday for his role in a scheme that scammed elderly Americans out of more than $150 million in cash and gold. Bhavesh Kumar Thakkar, 45, was found guilty on two counts tied to wire fraud and money laundering, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas. He became the fourth defendant convicted in the case. Thakkar was living in the United States on a spousal visa and took part in the operation from at least September 2022 through September 2025. The scheme ran out of call centers in India. Scammers there worked the phones, and Thakkar handled the money on the American end. He collected the cash and gold taken from victims, then moved it along. The proceeds were shipped to Los Angeles and New York before being laundered overseas. Prosecutors say Thakkar personally took in some of those funds from couriers and was connected to more than $150 million in fraud money pulled from seniors across the country. U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said the conviction was a warning to criminals operating against American citizens, at home and abroad: Foreign actors, both abroad and here in the United States, cannot be allowed to target Americans, especially our most vulnerable citizens. Many victims lose a significant portion of their life savings to these scammers, leaving victims vulnerable and hopeless. When we find them, we will do all we can to take from them the same sense of freedom and comfort they stole from their victims. Court records lay out how the operation worked. The scammers found their targets online, often flagging a fake fraudulent charge on a credit card or bank account. A caller would then phone the victim, pose as a Treasury Department or other government official, and warn that cash or gold had to be handed over to clear up an investigation. A courier would show up to collect, either at the victim’s home or in a parking lot. The victims were ordinary seniors. One man in Granite Shoals was told his identity had been stolen and tied to drug cartels, then he was convinced to make three separate withdrawals totaling $180,000. An elderly Fort Worth woman, warned that her Social Security number was linked to money laundering, handed $30,000 to a courier. Two of Thakkar’s co-defendants have already been sentenced. Dhruv Rajeshbhai Mangukiya got 97 months, and Kishan Rajeshkumar Patel got 63 months. A fourth man, Rakesh Barot, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and is awaiting sentencing. Thakkar has not yet been sentenced. The Justice Department presses a wider crackdown on foreign nationals who commit crimes on U.S. soil. Earlier this week, the DOJ moved to strip citizenship from dozens of naturalized Americans convicted of offenses including financial fraud.