An Indian immigrant in the United States has been jailed for nine years over a multi-million dollar identity theft scam.
44-year-old Amit Chaudhary pleaded guilty to identity theft, money laundering and visa fraud in September last year.
He along with his relatives in India were involved in laundering money from stolen credit cards and identities through shell bank accounts, reported.
The scam also operated cheap travel packages wherein customers’ money was stolen and their hotel and airfare would be paid with stolen cards. Many customers had their trips cancelled upon discovery of fraudulent transactions.
Chaudhary and his relatives are reported to have made $25 million by stealing from credit cards, aided by an accomplice working at a big multinational bank in India.
The lid was blown off the scam when an FBI agent recognised a well-known actress, Laura Vandervoort’s photo used in one of the fake passports which were used to back up the transactions.
“I never really dreamt of being a felon.
“This is going to haunt me for the rest of my life,” Chaudhary told the court before his sentencing.
His lawyer told the court that Chaudhary had done this “out of family loyalty”.
He was also involved in visa fraud and embezzlements. He is cooperating with the authorities investigating the fraud. Five of his accomplices have pleaded guilty in the US and two have been arrested in India.
