Man sentenced in elder fraud conspiracy that included southwestern Illinois victim

A Tampa man was sentenced Thursday in a U.S. District Court for his involvement in an elder fraud conspiracy that included a victim in Alton.

Jaykumar Patel, 33, was accused of moving criminal proceeds for an India-based fraud conspiracy targeting older people, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois.

Patel was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.

In 2021, a local resident sent $29,000 to an address in Florida as part of the scheme.

Someone claiming to be a law enforcement officer called a woman in Alton to warn her that her identity had been stolen and demanded the money to rectify the situation. The woman called the Alton Police Department after sending the money. Patel picked up the money a few days later and was arrested, the release stated.

An investigation by the FBI and police departments in Alton and St. Petersburg found Patel had picked up or planned to pick up more than $481,000 from victims across the country.