Baltimore, Maryland – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Amit Ahuja, age 40, of Westminster, Maryland, Kapil Gulati, age 50, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, and Priyanshu Walia, age 39, f Cleveland, Ohio, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with a technical support scheme where victims were made to believe that their computers had been compromised by a virus, or were susceptible to hacking, and payments were needed for computer repair services or software.
The indictment was announced by Erek L. Barron, U.S. for the District of Maryland; Postal Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Criminal Investigations Group; and Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore.
As detailed in the indictment, victims received a pop-up window urging them to call a phone number, or an unsolicited phone call, or victims contacted what they believed was a legitimate technical support company found through an online search. As further alleged, the victims were made to believe that their computers had major issues that they needed to pay money immediately to fix, and that they were working with legitimate computer companies or computer security companies.
According to the indictment, as a result of the scheme, more than 1,000 victims, many of whom were older adults, sent at least $3.5 million to the defendants and other conspirators based on false pretenses, representations, and promises involving the condition of the victims’ computers and the services and software allegedly required to fix the issues.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracy and each count of wire fraud. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
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