Man sentenced in scam of dozens, including $249K from metro-east retiree

An Illinois man has been sentenced to serve 7 1/2 years in federal prison for his role in an “imposter scam” that pulled in $6.9 million from dozens of victims across the country, including nearly $249,000 from an Edwardsville retiree.

Ligneshkumar H. Patel, 38, who had been living in Des Plaines after entering the United States from India in 2016, pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and financial institution fraud and two counts of wire fraud, according to court records and a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Stephen P. McGlynn, who sentenced Patel on Tuesday in federal court in East St. Louis, also ordered that Patel pay $2.23 million in restitution.

Court records show Patel operated as a “money mule” who collected cash and gold from 11 victims in five Midwestern states. These victims were defrauded of over $2.3 million.

Overall, Patel worked with a group that defrauded 85 other victims for a total of 96 victims with losses totaling $6.9 million, according to a report by the prosecution.

“This is another India-based impostor scam case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter T. Reed wrote. “This defendant, Ligneshkumar H. Patel worked in cooperation with others in the United States and in India to target elderly victims all over the United States. Patel drove to at least 11 victims’ residences in five states with the intent to take their assets on behalf of the conspiracy.”

Patel’s defense attorney, Gregg L. Smith of Chicago, could not be reached for comment Wednesday but wrote in court documents that Patel “has readily accepted full responsibility for his transgression.”

“He is extraordinarily humbled, contrite, and deeply ashamed with himself,” Smith added. “And yet, he is burdened with fear and uncertainty as to his future.”

Imposter scam details

In the Edwardsville case, a retiree in her 70s was targeted. She called police in April 2024 when she realized she was defrauded of about $249,000.

Federal court records described how she fell victim:

• She received an email in February 2024, purportedly from “Paypal,” telling her there were unauthorized purchases on her account. When she called the listed number, she was transferred to someone who identified himself as agent “Alex Martin” with the National Security Agency. 
• The victim was told her bank account and identity had been compromised and was told the “NSA”  would take control of her assets and help her regain her identity. To make this happen, “Alex” asked for documentation of all her assets over $1,000. 
• The victim sent $89,250 from her retirement accounts to “Alex” through bitcoin ATMs. She made these deposits throughout February and March 2024. “Alex” also sent her to a gold company in Marine, where she purchased $148,750 in gold coins. 
• She lied to the company about why she needed the gold because “Alex” told her the investigation was confidential and any disclosure on her part would make her criminally liable. 
• On the day the scammers picked up the gold at the victim’s home, search warrants showed exactly one device had searched for her address: a phone registered to Patel. Cellphone information confirmed that Patel had followed up on this search and had left his home near Chicago, traveled to Edwardsville, and returned on or about March 9, 2024.

“Imposter scams are international conspiracies often using U.S.-based money mules to meet victims in person to take their money,” U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft of the Southern District of Illinois said in a news release. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes these fraudsters aggressively, and anyone who targets elderly victims will face certain justice.”

Patel was charged in Madison County in May 2024 in connection with the Edwardsville retiree’s case. According to court documents filed in Madison County, the Edwardsville victim purchased gold Krugerrand coins. Krugerrand is a South African coin.

Patel also has charges in St. Louis County, Missouri, and Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Patel’s federal prison sentence will run concurrently with any sentence imposed in these cases, McGlynn ordered.

One of Patel’s victims, a Michigan woman in her 70s, told authorities she lost about $320,000 in the scam and now feels hopeless, according to court records.

“I did not sleep for close to 3 days immediately after finding out I was being scammed,” she reported. “I suffered the first anxiety attack in my life and I’m 72 years old.

“I have very little hope left, no plans for the future, little happiness and (a) vague notion that everything in my life has been worthless.”