Two Men Accused of Involvement in Impostor Scam Targeting Missouri Residents

ST. LOUIS – Two men from Wisconsin have been accused of acting as couriers for an impostor scam that targeted a Missouri resident.

Srinivas Putta, 42, and Ankurkumar Patel, 43, were indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on February 26 on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Putta was arrested in Wisconsin on April 14. He appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Patel was arrested March 27 and has also pleaded not guilty.

The indictment accuses the men of involvement in a conspiracy that defrauded victims by pretending to contact them on behalf of financial institutions, law enforcement organizations and government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Treasury and the Federal Trade Commission. One victim was told that his identity had been stolen and that he would be deported if he didn’t act, the indictment says. The indictment also alleges that the victim had been told that his money had been converted to “black money” through identity theft and that he needed to give cards or prepaid debit cards to couriers to transfer the money into an uncontaminated account that the government set up. On Sept. 25, 2023, Putta and Patel tried to collect $144,000 from the victim, who had been told to meet them in a Target parking lot in Missouri, the indictment says. The indictment also alleges that other couriers collected $125,000 from that victim.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The conspiracy and wire fraud charges each are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the O’Fallon (Missouri) Police Department are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.