Atharva Shailesh Sathawane, a 23-year-old Indian man in Florida, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of elder fraud. The verdict was announced in January, but the case has now attracted the attention of MAGA commentators, whose anti-India sentiment has been fueled by incidents of visa abuse and other fraud. “An Indian illegal immigrant under Biden was just sentenced to 18 years in prison for stealing $15 million from elderly victims. They keep telling us these people are here for a better life. Bullshit. In fact, they are here to steal grandma,” right-wing commentator Nick Sortor wrote on X.
Who is Atharva Shailesh Satavani? What crime did he commit?
The 23-year-old man came to the United States on a student visa but overstayed his visa and lost his legal status in the United States. Sashavan became a courier for an international fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims who were convinced to liquidate their retirement accounts for cash, gold or both. Sashawane then went to each victim, took cash or gold and gave it to his co-conspirators. Some of the co-conspirators were from India, court documents said. Sashawan operates primarily in Florida, but he also travels to Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and New York as needed. His personal contribution to the main racket is $6,615,484.66 in cash and gold.“Sashavan preyed on the trust and fear of his victims to convince them to exchange their life savings for gold. Unfortunately, this trend is growing. In Florida alone, victims lost more than $33 million to gold bullion fraud last year. This sentence is just one step in bringing justice to the victims of this scheme and in the FBI’s efforts to prevent this from happening again,” said FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Jason Calley.
