A third suspect appeared before a federal judge in Youngstown Monday for his alleged role in a $4.8 million nationwide elder fraud scheme that targeted half a dozen victims across the United States including a Salem man.

Yash Raval pleaded "not guilty" to a money laundering conspiracy indictment unsealed last month.

Raval's arrest follows that of 24-year-old Shreyas Baldevbhai Chaudhary, an Indian national charged with money laundering conspiracy.

According to court documents, the scheme involved a sophisticated operation where victims were tricked into believing their computers were hacked and their identities stolen. They were then pressured to send large sums of money to individuals posing as representatives of Microsoft or their financial institutions.

Chaudhary is accused of using the fake tech support scam to defraud a 77-year-old man from Salem, out of approximately $61,000. Chaudhary allegedly used a messaging account opened with an email address linked to a cloud account containing the man’s identifying information.

The affidavit details a scheme where he and other victims received pop-up ads claiming their computers were hacked.

Victims were then instructed to call fake Microsoft support numbers and send money or gold bars to couriers.

In the case of the Salem victim, he was instructed to withdraw cash from his bank account and deliver it to Raval who arrived at his home in an SUV in November of last year.  

What Raval didn't know is that the $50,000 he believed to be from the wire fraud scheme was actually cash supplied by the FBI.

Six victims were identified with total losses exceeding $4.8 million. In addition to two people from Ohio, there are also victims from California, New York, Maryland, and New York.

A co-conspirator, Trusha Chaudhary (no relation), was previously caught picking up a package containing $11,000 from a victim in Illinois.

Trusha Chaudhary worked under numerous aliases, fourteen of which were on phony California driver’s licenses.

 

  FBI

 

The FBI obtained evidence through controlled deliveries of marked funds and consent searches of phones and email accounts.

Authorities say Shreyas came to the United States in July 2023, falsely answering "no" to a question about money laundering involvement on a visa application.

Raval remains in federal custody awaiting trial.