Man gets 8-year prison sentence in international conspiracy defrauding elderly victims
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man was sentenced in a federal court in Austin on Thursday for conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The DOJ said court documents showed that Moinuddin Mohammed, 34, “engaged in a conspiracy to launder proceeds of a scheme to defraud elderly victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold.”
Mohammed was sentenced to 97 months in prison, or eight years and one month.
According to the DOJ, he was part of an international conspiracy that originated in India and involved the impersonation of government officials to convince victims to turn over money from their retirement and savings accounts.
Investigators identified 21 victims nationwide who fell victim to the scheme and lost a combined total of nearly $6 million, according to the DOJ.
The DOJ said multiple victims were contacted by someone claiming to be the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, who told the victims they were under investigation or at risk of financial loss. The victims were told that they would need to deposit cash, gold or other items of financial value to resolve the investigation or prevent loss.
Mohammed was a courier who picked up the cash and gold from vulnerable elderly people, the DOJ said.
One victim was defrauded of more than $300,000, another lost around $151,500, and a third victim lost around $470,000 to the scheme, per the DOJ.
In addition to his sentence, Mohammed was ordered to pay full restitution in the approximate amount of $960,000, forfeit $20,000 in cash that was seized by investigators, and forfeit a money judgment of $16,000.
The FBI investigated this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Henneke prosecuted the case.
