– The leader in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud has been ordered to federal prison, the United States Department of Justice said Thursday.
At the hearing, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said the court heard additional evidence that described Azad as the U.S.-based ringleader working with a call center in India. In handing down the sentence, the court mentioned the many letters and victim impact statements it had read showing the “financial devastation” to elderly and vulnerable victims throughout the United States because of the fraud scheme, a news release said.
Authorities said part of the scheme involved fraudsters contacting victims by phone or via internet sites for computer technical support and directing victims to a particular phone number. Once victims contacted the fraudsters, they were told stories, such as they were communicating with an expert that needed remote access to their computer in order to provide technical support services.
“Victims were sometimes re-victimized multiple times and threatened with bodily harm if they did not pay,” the release said.