A 22-year-old undocumented immigrant from India was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering against the elderly in multiple states.

According to a Northern District of Florida U.S. Attorney’s Office press release sent Thursday, a federal jury found Atharva Shailesh Sathawane, 22, of India, guilty on the two charges and faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.

One of Sathawane’s victims included Brian Oliver, of Gainesville, who lost $200,000 in the fraud scheme. The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) worked together with Oliver to set up a sting operation that led to Sathawane’s arrest in February.  

“This successful prosecution was made possible by the outstanding investigative work of our local and federal law enforcement partners, and this criminal alien will be held accountable for his role in the financial exploitation of several vulnerable, elderly victims,” said U.S. Attorney John Heekin in the press release. “I am incredibly proud of the work by my office to pursue justice on behalf of the defrauded victims in this case, and we will see to it that fraudsters are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Both court documents and trial testimony proved Sathawane was a courier in an international fraud scheme that defrauded elderly victims of nearly $8 million. The scheme convinced elderly victims to liquidate their retirement accounts to obtain cash and/or gold, according to the release.

Sathawane picked up the cash and gold from the victims and delivered the assets to unknown individuals in parking lots. He worked with other individuals, some of whom were in India, to transfer the cash and gold.  

The GPD arrested Sathawane in February when he arrived at Oliver’s residence to pick up more gold. A search of the defendant’s cell phone confirmed his involvement in more than 30 transactions in numerous states. According to the release, multiple American citizens lost their life savings or experienced substantial financial hardship due to the fraud scheme.

The case involved a joint investigation by the GPD, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Hapner.

Sentencing is scheduled at 10 a.m. on Dec. 16 at the U.S. Courthouse in Gainesville before Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor.