A federal jury convicted Indian national Bhavesh Kumar Thakkar for moving cash and gold stolen from U.S. seniors in a call-center scheme topping $150 million.
Breitbart News reported that a federal jury in Austin, Texas, found the 45-year-old guilty Monday on two counts tied to wire fraud and money laundering.
Thakkar became the fourth defendant convicted in the case. He lived in the United States on a spousal visa and handled the American end of an India-based call-center operation that targeted older victims with fake government threats.
Prosecutors say he took part from at least September 2022 through September 2025. He collected cash and gold from couriers, then moved the proceeds toward Los Angeles and New York before the money was laundered overseas. Officials connected him to more than $150 million in fraud funds.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons framed the verdict as a direct warning.
"Foreign actors, both abroad and here in the United States, cannot be allowed to target Americans, especially our most vulnerable citizens. Many victims lose a significant portion of their life savings to these scammers, leaving victims vulnerable and hopeless. When we find them, we will do all we can to take from them the same sense of freedom and comfort they stole from their victims."
The scam followed a familiar script. Operators in India found targets online, often by flagging a fake fraudulent charge on a credit card or bank account.
A caller then phoned the victim, posed as a Treasury Department official or other government agent, and claimed an investigation was underway. The pitch demanded cash or gold to “clear” the matter. A courier collected the haul at the victim’s home or in a parking lot.
Thakkar’s role sat on the U.S. side of that pipeline. He gathered the cash and gold from the couriers and kept the money moving so it could leave the country.
The human cost shows up in the individual losses. In Granite Shoals, Texas, one man was told his identity had been stolen and tied to drug cartels. He made three separate withdrawals totaling $180,000. In Fort Worth, an elderly woman was warned that her Social Security number was linked to money laundering. She handed $30,000 to a courier.
Those cases are examples, not the whole ledger. The ring’s total haul exceeded $150 million in cash and gold taken from elderly Americans.
Thakkar has not yet been sentenced. Three other men in the same case already faced judgment.
Dhruv Rajeshbhai Mangukiya received 97 months in prison. Kishan Rajeshkumar Patel received 63 months. Rakesh Barot pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and is awaiting sentencing.
The pattern is plain. Foreign-linked crews run the phones from overseas. Couriers and money handlers operate inside the United States. Elderly victims empty savings accounts under pressure from people pretending to be federal officials. Then the cash and gold leave the country.
Thakkar is an Indian national who was living here on a spousal visa while prosecutors say he moved fraud proceeds for years. That detail matters for anyone who expects immigration status to track with lawful conduct.
The Justice Department is also pressing a broader effort against foreign nationals who commit crimes on U.S. soil. Earlier this week, the department moved to strip citizenship from dozens of naturalized Americans convicted of offenses that include financial fraud. Linked reporting put that figure at 40.
Denaturalization after serious crime is one tool. Prison time for wire fraud and money laundering is another. Both send the same message: the United States will not treat elder fraud as a low-risk business model for people who exploit open pathways into the country.
The Austin verdict closes one chapter and leaves the sentencing still ahead. It also puts names and numbers on a scheme that drained life savings through fear and official-sounding lies.
Victims were told they faced cartel ties, stolen identities, or Social Security problems. They were told the only way out was to hand over cash or gold on the spot. Couriers showed up. The money then traveled through U.S. cities and out of the country. Thakkar, according to prosecutors, sat in the middle of that transfer chain and was tied to more than $150 million of it.
Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas built the case. A jury in Austin returned the guilty findings on the wire fraud and money laundering counts. Co-defendants are already serving or awaiting long sentences. The U.S. attorney’s office says it will keep pursuing the people who run these rings, whether they work the phones from India or move the proceeds inside the United States.
Elder fraud thrives when criminals believe victims will panic and the money will disappear overseas before anyone can stop it. Prison terms, asset recovery, and consequences for immigration status are how that calculation changes.
Protecting seniors from foreign call-center rings is basic law and order, and it starts with convicting the people who move the cash.
