2020-11-30 (sentenced) · US

Ahmedabad call centres' IRS and USCIS impersonation: owner sentenced, 2020

Sentence handed down.

Hitesh Madhubhai Patel, also known as Hitesh Hinglaj, 44, of Ahmedabad, India, was sentenced in the Southern District of Texas to 20 years in prison for operating and funding India-based call centres that defrauded US victims between 2013 and 2016. According to his plea agreement, callers impersonated officials of the IRS and US Citizenship and Immigration Services and threatened victims with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation unless they paid, often by buying general purpose reloadable cards or wiring money; US-based runners then liquidated and laundered the funds. The 2016 indictment charged Patel and 60 other people and entities, and 24 US-based defendants had already been convicted and sentenced.

$25M (estimate; Loss Patel admitted was reasonably foreseeable and attributable to him: more than $25 million but less than $65 million. Separately, he was ordered to pay $8,970,396 in restitution to identified victims.)

Timeline

1. 2013-01-01 From 2013, call centres in Ahmedabad run IRS, USCIS and other impersonation scripts against US residents, according to Patel's plea agreement.
2. 2016-10-01 In October 2016 an indictment charging Patel and 60 other individuals and entities is unsealed.
3. 2018-09-01 In September 2018 Singapore authorities arrest Patel on a US provisional arrest warrant after he flies there from India.
4. 2019-04-01 In April 2019 Patel is extradited from Singapore to the United States.
5. 2020-11-30 Patel is sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $8,970,396 in restitution.

Lessons

• Tax and immigration agencies do not demand immediate payment by phone under threat of arrest or deportation; hang up and contact the agency directly.
• No legitimate agency asks to be paid with reloadable cards or gift cards; that request alone marks the call as a scam.
• Warn relatives who are recent immigrants: USCIS impersonation preys on fears about immigration status.

Scam types: Tax agency and benefits impersonation · Techniques: Voice phishing (vishing)

Sources

1. TIGTA and DOJ (via Oversight.gov): Owner and operator of India-based call centers sentenced to prison for scamming U.S. victims out of millions of dollars (Law enforcement, primary, accessed 2026-09-24)