RS County Man Gets 9 Years for Collecting Fraud Proceeds from Elderly Victims

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Riverside County man was sentenced today to nine years in prison for helping collect more than $500,000 in cash conned out of elderly people by others pretending to be federal agents threatening the victims with arrest on bogus warrants. Anuj ``Mike'' Patel, 32, of Lake Elsinore, picked up money mailed by victims who were told that their Social Security numbers were linked to crimes, and that warrants had been issued for their arrests. Victims were told that, to clear the warrants, they should withdraw their savings and send cash by mail to what turned out to be co-conspirators in the scheme. Patel -- who was ordered to pay $490,500 in restitution -- pleaded guilty in March 2021 to one federal count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, according to the
Subscribe or log in to read the rest of this content.