Springfield Man Sentenced for Money Laundering Conspiracy

DOJ Press

BOSTON – A Springfield man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in a scheme to launder the proceeds of various telephone fraud scams. 

Utkarsh Thakur, 29, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to two years in prison and three years of supervised release. Thakur was also ordered to pay restitution of $1,535,518. On April 25, 2022, Thakur pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy.

Between January and August 2021, Thakur’s co-conspirators called victims over the phone pretending to be individuals in positions of authority, such as law enforcement, and threatening the victims in order to obtain money. For example, Thakur’s co-conspirators threatened that the victims would be arrested or lose public assistance benefits if they did not mail cash to fictitious individuals at addresses in Massachusetts. Thakur obtained fake identification cards in the names of those fictitious individuals, retrieved the cash mailed by the victims and transported the cash to others involved in the scheme. In total, Thakur laundered more than $1.5 million in victim funds and kept a portion of those funds for himself.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by many local law enforcement partners, including the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Bellingham Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Markham of Rollins’ Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.


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