Alien Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm

Jackson, Miss. – Lovepreet Singh, 27, a former Jackson resident who is an alien from India, pled guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan to money laundering and unlawful possession of a firearm, announced Acting United States Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Jack P. Stanton,  Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, New Orleans Field Office.

A federal criminal l indictment naming ten defendants in the United States and abroad,  returned by a federal grand jury on March 19, 2019, charged Singh, an Indian national then residing and working as an interstate truck driver based in Indianapolis, IN, with acts supporting a conspiracy defrauding multiple victims as part of an international tech support and telemarketing fraud scheme. 

According to the indictment and testimony in court, beginning in January 2015, and continuing through December 20, 2018, Singh conspired with nine other defendants, located  across the United States and in India, to commit the federal offenses of wire fraud, mail fraud, and bank fraud, in addition to offenses of money laundering, aggravated identity theft, and passing fictitious obligations.

Conspirators in Mississippi and elsewhere would obtain the telephone numbers and email addresses of computers belonging to various individuals throughout the United States. They engaged telephone calling centers in India, which would place calls to the United States numbers that  appeared to be coming from United States-based toll-free numbers. The conspirators established and operated various business entities such as World Tech Assistance and US Support Inc., in Mississippi and elsewhere in the United States. 

Conspirators would call victims in the United States, advising the victims that malware and ransomware were infecting the victims’ computers and devices, and that the victims should contact the conspirators for assistance.  Conspirators misrepresented themselves as “Apple Support” or “Microsoft” or other legitimate and known technical support services, and offered their assistance to remove the software, in return for payment.  

Victims responded to the conspirators’ phone calls and pop up messages to send monies and payments, by wire, check and other means.  Victims also granted conspirators access to the their bank accounts and computers, permitting the conspirators to further enrich themselves by fraudulent appropriation and taking of the money and property of the victims.  Victims sent money and payments to conspirators in Mississippi and to conspirators in India.  Conspirators in Mississippi would also send payments and monies to their conspirators in India.

Singh will be sentenced on July 6, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. by Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan in Jackson.  He faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison for money laundering  and 10 years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm.  Each count also can merit a fine of up to $250,000. 

Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca commended the work of the Special Agents with HSI’s Jackson Division who investigated the case, and the United States Marshals Service who assisted with the nationwide search and arrests of defendants.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.