The indictment alleges victims were sometimes re-victimised multiple times and threatened with bodily harm if they did not pay.
Upon conviction, both of them face up to 20 years in federal prison and a possible USD 250,000 fine.
Three others have already pleaded guilty in relation to the scheme and are awaiting sentencing – Sumit Kumar Singh, 24, Himanshu Kumar, 24, and MD Hasib, 26. They are Indian nationals who illegally resided in Houston.
According to the charges, the ring tricked and deceived victims using various ruses and instructed them to send money via wire through a money transmitter business such as Western Union or MoneyGram, by buying gift cards and providing to the fraudsters or by mailing cash to alias names via FedEx or UPS.
