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New Delhi: Two friends have together committed such a crime which is being discussed in three countries. One friend is from Gujarat and the other is from China. Both of them together have duped the Americans well. But now their cup of sins is full. Police have arrested both the friends on the charge of fraud. They have duped two elderly American couples by promising to convert their life savings into gold. Harmesh Patel, a resident of Gujarat and Wenhui Sun of China have been arrested by Homeland Security Investigation officers. So far, a total of more than 14 lakh dollars (about 11 crore 75 lakh) has been found to be defrauded in this fraud. The matter is being investigated and it is being ascertained how big their network was.
According to the Times of India report, the accused Harmesh Patel is 25 years old. He was arrested on July 29 for defrauding a couple from Troy, New York of $1 million. Meanwhile, Chinese fraudster Wenhui Sun had duped an elderly couple from Maryland of $331,817 in a similar fashion. It was through Patel’s phone records that American police officers found out about the connection between the two.
How Gujarati-Chinese cheated
Now let’s know how these two friends cheated. Actually, on December 1, 2023, the couple from Troy received an email from PayPal Inc. It said that a charge of $465.88 has been made on their account, which will be deducted from their account within 24 hours. Two numbers were given for customer support in the email. It was said in the email that if they have any doubts about the transaction or want to cancel the charge, then they can call on this number.
How did the incident happen
Fearing that money would be deducted from their account, the couple called on that number. The person who answered the phone on the customer care number introduced himself as a Microsoft employee. Will Gannon was on the phone in the name of ‘customer support’. He gave the victim couple the number of a woman named Elizabeth Shnerov, who was described as ‘Assistant Director in the Federal Trade Commission’. Elizabeth told the couple that their savings were in danger because their social security numbers had been leaked. Offering to help them save their money, Elizabeth advised them to sell some of their assets and keep the money in a locker of the US Treasury Department.
The couple had no clue
The couple thought from the conversation that these were really federal staff. They were convinced by the conversation. After this, the couple followed their (fraudsters) advice and on December 5, 2023, made an online transaction of $102,000 to a company named Dingshi Trade Limited based in China. After this, Elizabeth called them again on December 7 and asked them to convert the remaining amount into gold and keep it in the locker of the Treasury Department. Between this call and January 2024, the couple bought at least $1 million in gold in three times.
what is the role of Harmesh
After this, Harmish Patel, who lives in Streamwood, Illinois, stole gold worth $1,058,082 from the elderly couple in two months. Harmish Patel used to come to the couple’s house every time by car and take away the gold. In January, when the couple asked for their money back before going on a six-month vacation, a fake US agency official threatened them that their social security number would be cancelled.
How did the suspicion arise?
After this the couple panicked. They rushed to their financial advisor. When the advisor suspected fraud, he contacted law enforcement agencies. US law enforcement agencies and special agents of Homeland Security Investigations nabbed Harmesh Patel based on the number plate of his car. After this, Patel’s phone records revealed that he often made video calls to the Chinese fraudster.
What is the connection with China?
Further investigation revealed that in February 2024, another couple from Silver Spring, Maryland was similarly defrauded of $331,817. Wenhui Sun was arrested in this case. Sun claimed that he was working at the behest of a man from China. Patel’s chats revealed that he had instructed a man named ‘Best Friend’ to collect gold from the Maryland couple. Documents and sources related to the case believe that both Patel and Sun worked for the same gang.
Tag: China News, Gujarat, US News
first published : August 12, 2024, 11:40 IST
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