Lake Elsinore Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Federal Prison for Bagman Role in Scheme to Defraud Elderly Victims with Threats of Arrest

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California:

LOS ANGELES – A Riverside County man was sentenced today to 108 months in federal prison for participating in an international fraud scheme in which he helped collect more than $550,000 in cash conned out of elderly victims by other co-conspirators pretending to be federal agents threatening the victims with arrest on bogus warrants.

Anuj Mahendrabhai Patel, 32, a.k.a. “Mike” and “Indio,” of Lake Elsinore, was sentenced by United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II, who said, “I don’t understand how anyone could be so cruel and prey upon” elderly, vulnerable victims. Judge Wright also ordered Patel to pay $490,500 in restitution to his victims that investigators identified.

From April 2019 to March 2020, Patel participated in the international conspiracy that deceived elderly victims out of their money. Other members of the conspiracy, some of whom are believed to be in India, telephoned victims and pretended to be government employees or law enforcement officers. Using several false pretenses – including phony badge numbers and using spoofed government telephone numbers – the co-conspirators convinced the victims, most of whom were elderly, that their identities or assets were in trouble.

Some victims were told that their Social Security numbers had been linked to crimes and that there were warrants issued by courts authorizing the victims’ arrests. The co-conspirators further told the victims that to clear the warrants, they should withdraw their savings and send cash by mail to other members of the scheme.

The victims were ordered to send the parcels through shipping companies that allowed parcel recipients to pick up parcel so long as the recipients had identification matching the names listed on the parcel as the addressees. The addresses the defendants gave primarily were at locations in Riverside County, but also in Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

Patel used tracking numbers to monitor the victims’ parcels, and communicated with couriers – Elmer Miranda Barrios, 37, a.k.a. “Welbin Raul Mejia” and “Joe Rodriguez,” and William Margarito Barrios, 37, Elmer Barrios’s cousin, both of Lake Elsinore – who used fraudulent identification documents matching the names listed on the parcels as addresses. Patel also received or intended to receive 18 packages sent by victims.

William Barrios pleaded guilty in January 2021 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and he was sentenced to a time-served sentence of five months in federal prison. He was ordered released to immigration authorities for deportation. Elmer Barrios pleaded guilty in December 2021 to a conspiracy count, and he is scheduled to be sentenced on May 23.

This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations; the Social Security Administration; the United States Department of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration; the Murrieta Police Department; the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Huntington Beach Police Department; the Fullerton Police Department; the Stanislaus County (California) Sheriff’s Department; the Seattle Police Department; the Brownsville (Texas) Police Department; the St. James Parish (Louisiana) Sheriff’s Office; the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Office; the Addison (Illinois) Police Department; the Columbus (Ohio) Division of Police; the Northwest Lancaster County (Pennsylvania) Regional Police Department; the Edison Township (New Jersey) Police Department; and the St. Petersburg (Florida) Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Peter H. Dahlquist of the Riverside Branch Office prosecuted this case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles is one of six offices participating in the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, a joint law enforcement effort that brings together the resources and expertise of federal law enforcement and non-governmental organizations to combat international fraud schemes that disproportionately affect American seniors.