INDIANAPOLIS — A Plainfield man has been sentenced to three years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to the possession of false identity documents and operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
According to court documents, Vimalkumar Trivedi, 41, defrauded multiple people between April 2017 and April 2021. His fraud schemes consisted of getting victims to send cash to various locations, including Indianapolis via FedEx.
During the investigation into Trivedi, law enforcement agents said he had at least 53 false IDs, each with his photo.
Court documents said Trivedi operated the scam with multiple co-conspirators in India and the United States. They tricked their victims into sending large amounts of cash in packages via FedEx by posing as law enforcement and urging their victims to send the money to avoid being arrested for narcotics trafficking.
Trivedi was found to have picked up at least 122 packages containing over $900,000 in cash. He kept $60,000 of the stolen funds and sent the rest to his co-conspirators. Approximately 17 victims were confirmed to have been defrauded by Trivedi, and roughly another 50 were suspected to have been defrauded.
“The sentence imposed on the defendant sends a very clear message to those who attempt to profit from fraud. You will be caught, and you will face time behind bars,” said Herbert J. Stapleton, FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge. “Protecting the community from becoming victims of these types of schemes will always be a priority for the FBI and our partners.”
Trivedi will serve three years on probation following his release from federal prison.