On January 26, 2026, federal officials unsealed federal money laundering charges against two men of Indian origin who were tied to common scams targeting elderly victims: Navya Umeshkumar Bhatt, a marketing major at the University of Toledo currently under an ICE detainer, and Tejas Bhupendrabhai Patel.
The two have engaged in PayPal refund, Microsoft tech support and Bitcoin-related scams that usually involve victims being instructed to make payments in the form of cash, gold bars or crypto.
- A co-conspirator, Vedantkumar Bhupenbhai Patel, was arrested on a warrant from Shelby Township, Michigan on April 30, 2025 for Larceny by False Pretenses after travelling to a victim’s residence to collect 43 gold bars totaling $145,137.
- Another co-conspirator, Visweswarayya Bhaskar Kunuku, was asked to collect nine 100g gold bars totaling $90,105 from a 77-year-old tech support scam victim in Ann Arbor, Michigan who lost approximately $548,322 of her life savings.
- Tejas Patel was tasked by Vedantkumar Patel with collecting the stolen funds outside his residence
- Bhatt was tasked by Tejas Patel via WhatsApp to collect victims’ funds on four different occasions, including approximately $38,000 from a 94-year-old victim in Hudson, Ohio who lost approximately $178,000.
- Bhatt was also tasked with collecting money from a 74-year-old victim in South Bend, Indiana who lost approximately $327,896 from a Social Security Scam that involved criminal impersonation of FBI, FTC and SSA officials.
- Bhatt was also tasked with collecting money from a 73-year-old victim in Columbus, Ohio who lost approximately $131,000 from a bank impersonation scam: $31,000 of which were handed to the scammers via Bitcoin ATM.
- Bhatt was also tasked with collecting $40,000 from a 68-year-old from Toledo, Ohio who fell victim to a FTC scam.
