Plainfield man sentenced to federal prison for international $1.5M identity theft scheme
PLAINFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — A Plainfield man will spend three years in federal prison after running a $1.5 million international identity theft scheme, the United States Department of Justice said in a Thursday press release.
Vimalkumar Trivedi, 41, pleaded guilty to the possession of false identity documents and operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
Between April 2017 and April 2021, Trivedi defrauded at least 17 people, including elderly people, into sending money to him in Indianapolis.
Trivedi and his co-conspirators in the U.S. and in India masqueraded as federal law enforcement agents and told the victims that their Social Security numbers had been found in connection with criminal activity, the DOJ said in a Thursday press release.
They told the people “they would be arrested if they did not immediately withdraw large sums of cash and mail it to fictitious individuals,” the release said.
Trivedi tracked the packages of money and picked them up at varying FedEx locations. He used a false ID in the name of the listed package recipient.
In total, he had at least 53 false ID documents. Each of them had a picture of him but with different identifying information.
“He used these false identification documents to pick up at least 122 packages containing $901,124 in cash processed,” the DOJ said.
He kept $60,000 and then forwarded the remainder to his associates.
“The sentence imposed on the defendant sends a very clear message to those who attempt to profit from fraud. You will be caught, and you will face time behind bars,” FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert Stapleton, said. “Protecting the community from becoming victims of these types of schemes will always be a priority for the FBI and our partners.”
