BOSTON – A South Boston man pleaded guilty in federal court in Springfield to participating in a scheme that defrauded a 75-year-old man from Berkshire County, Mass. of approximately $500,000.
Urvishkumar Vipulkumar Patel, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni scheduled sentencing for Feb. 13, 2026. Patel was arrested and charged by criminal complaint on Oct. 7, 2024 and indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2024.
In early 2024, an elderly Berkshire County resident received a pop-up message on his computer claiming that his computer was frozen and directing him to call the number provided on the computer screen, purportedly associated with Microsoft. The victim’s call was routed to an individual who identified himself as a federal law enforcement officer with the U.S. Treasury Department and referred to himself “Sam Wilson.” Wilson told the victim that he was involved in a money laundering scheme and instructed the victim to take out the cash from his bank accounts and send the money to the Treasury Department for safekeeping. Wilson directed the victim to place the cash in a taped box with the victim’s own name and address written on it. Wilson then sent couriers to the victim’s home to collect the boxes of cash. Prior to each collection, Wilson had the victim describe the clothes he would be wearing and provided the victim with a “PIN” passcode the couriers were to recite upon pickup…