By Kaley
An illegal immigrant from India has been sentenced for a massive fraud scheme that targeted U.S. senior citizens.
23-year-old Atharva Sathawane stole a total of $15 million from elderly victims.
This foreign fraudster was convicted by a jury on two charges and will now be serving out an 18-year sentence in prison.
This local news clip dove deeper:
🚨 BREAKING: An Indian illegal brought in under Biden has just been sentenced to 18 YEARS in prison for stealing $15 MILLION from elderly victims
They keep telling us these people come for a better life.
BS.
In reality, they come to steal from grandma. pic.twitter.com/CGdXM6C4s5
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 21, 2026
The scheme involved persuading seniors to liquidate their retirement accounts for cash or gold.
Sathawane then collected the cash or gold bars and sent him to his co-conspirators — some of whom are located in India.
A press release from the DOJ shared more details on the crime:
Atharva Shailesh Sathawane, 23, of India, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after a jury previously found him guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Elder fraud schemes like this one are taking place every day in every state, but especially in Florida due to our large population of retirees, so it is of critical importance that we educate the public of these threats to prevent these fraudsters from continuing to victimize our seniors. I applaud the excellent investigative work by our state and federal law enforcement partners to uncover and dismantle this complex, international fraud scheme, which was made possible by the brave victims who came forward to report the fraud in the first place. Our hope is that these elder fraud schemes never occur, but the talented prosecutors in my office will aggressively pursue the heinous fraudsters, like this defendant, and seek maximum punishments when we catch them.”
Trial evidence and court documents showed that the defendant, an illegal alien who had overstayed his student visa, was a courier in an international fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims. As part of the scheme, multiple elderly victims were convinced to liquidate their retirement accounts to obtain cash, gold, or both. The defendant would travel to each victim to take possession of large quantities of their cash and gold, and he would then deliver those fraudulently obtained proceeds to his co-conspirators, some of whom were orchestrating the fraud scheme from India.