Leader of massive robocall scam with 4,000 victims in the U.S. gets 22-year prison term

The leader of a robocall scam center in India that victimized 4,000 people in the U.S. out of more than $10 million was sentenced Thursday to 22 years in prison.

Shehzadkhan Pathan, 40, pleaded guilty in January to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson.

Among the victims of the ring’s scams, which typically began with a robocall from a center in Ahmedabad, India, was an elderly Chesterfield County woman whose story was recounted in a June article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The woman, who cares for an adult son, lost $445,000 — almost her entire life savings, which she was duped into sending to people posing as law enforcement agents.

Raj Parekh, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said, “The impact of the harm inflicted on the victims of these robocall schemes can be devastating. The victims, many of whom are elderly, continue to endure significant financial hardship from the defendant’s vast fraud enterprise.”

“When you consider the sheer number of victims this defendant extorted and the magnitude of their losses, the scale of harm and pain he caused is enormous,” said Parekh...