India Tribune Newsdesk
An Indian-origin accountant in the United States, who wrote a book featuring a chapter on “black money”, has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for money laundering and fraud involving COVID-19 relief funds.
Arun Mago, 47, a certified public accountant based in Austin, Texas, was found guilty of laundering money believed to be proceeds from cocaine sales and fraudulently obtaining nearly $1 million in pandemic relief loans.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, Mago laundered $150,000 in cash supplied by an undercover agent between October 2023 and July 2024. He believed the money came from cocaine sales.
Investigators also found that Mago had fraudulently secured multiple Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans for various business entities between April and November 2021.
The loans totalled nearly $1 million. Instead of using the funds for legitimate business purposes, Mago transferred the money into his personal bank account and used it to purchase real estate.
US District Judge Robert Pitman sentenced him to 41 months in prison and ordered him to pay more than $900,000 in restitution, along with a $250,000 fine.
Earlier, on July 29, according to court records, Roshan Shah, (age 22) sentenced to 48 months' imprisonment for conspiring to commit money laundering. Shah who was attending college in Canada on a student visa. He entered the United States on a visitor visa to collect fraud proceeds. Co-conspirators in India called victims and convinced them that their identities had been used to commit crimes. The victims were led to believe they had to surrender cash or gold to a federal agent, impersonated by Shah, for safekeeping.
In total, Shah collected more than $3.7 million from 15 victims throughout the United States. He was arrested while attempting to collect what he believed to be fraud proceeds in New Berlin, Wisconsin, using the same fraudulent scheme.
Also, in California, a 44-year-old Indian-origin businessman, Mahendra Makhijani, on June 11, has been arrested in California, USA, over allegations of a nearly $100 million bank fraud scheme.
U.S. authorities allege that he used falsified property records and altered title documents to mislead a bank and secure large loans. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in federal prison.
