Illinois Man Sentenced to 3 Years in Federal Prison for Money Laundering Scheme

- Hirenkumar P. Chaudhari, 29, used a phony Indian passport, false name, and false address to open multiple bank accounts in the U.S. to receive money from victims.

An Indian American man from Illinois was sentenced to three years in federal prison for laundering cash proceeds from a telemarketing scheme that defrauded elderly victims, John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois announced last week.
Hirenkumar P. Chaudhari, 29, of Des Plaines, âused a phony Indian passport, false name, and false address to open multiple bank accounts in the U.S. to receive money from victims of the telemarketing scheme,â a Department of Justice press release said. The scheme involved phone calls from people falsely claiming to be associated with, among other agencies, the Social Security Administration and U.S. Department of Justice, âstating that a victimâs identity had been stolen and that it was necessary to transfer money to various bank accounts, including the accounts opened by Chaudhari,â the press release added.
In a January 2021 press release, the DJ identified one of the victims as a retired nurse from Massachusetts âwho transferred a total of more than $900,000 from her bank and retirement accounts to accounts controlled by Chaudhari or others.â On April 19, 2018 â one day after Chaudhari opened an account and received a $7,000 transfer from the Massachusetts victim â he entered a bank branch in Chicago and withdrew $6,500. Chaudhari engaged in this financial transaction knowing that the money represented proceeds of unlawful activity.
Chaudhari pleaded guilty last year to a federal money laundering charge. In addition to the three-year prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis ordered Chaudhari to pay $6,500 in restitution to the Massachusetts victim.