RENO, Nev. — A co-defendant in a major fraud ring that targeted older and vulnerable people has been found guilty after prosecutors said a 64-year-old woman was manipulated into handing over nearly half a million dollars in gold and cash.
Anil Kumar was found guilty of exploitation of an elderly person and attempt to obtain money under false pretense in a case involving an elaborate phone scam. Prosecutors said Kumar and Amit Bhanwala-Singh conspired with multiple unknown individuals to steal nearly half a million dollars from the victim.
Investigators said the scam began when the victim received a fraudulent Amazon text message and called an unknown co-conspirator who posed as a federal agent.
The impersonator falsely told her she was under investigation for money laundering and claimed she had to surrender her assets or risk losing all her money…