Five individuals have pleaded guilty to their roles in a scheme that defrauded elderly victims in ten states through a tech support scam, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Dariona Lambert, 23, Zhamoniq Stevens, 24, Chintankumar Parekh, 52, Mehulkumar Darji, 42, and Sital Singh, 43, all admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The most recent plea was entered by Darji on Friday morning.
Authorities say the scheme originated overseas. Scammers contacted elderly people via phone calls and electronic messages and falsely claimed their savings and retirement accounts were compromised. Victims were told to transfer funds for supposed protection, often through purchasing gold bars or coins. Couriers then collected the gold on behalf of the conspirators abroad.
Lambert and Stevens admitted serving as couriers who picked up gold from victims. Darji, Parekh, and Singh acted as handlers who managed collection efforts and paid couriers in cash.
The government estimates that overseas scammers gained $9.3 million from these activities.
In one case detailed in plea agreements, an 82-year-old woman from St. Louis was told her financial accounts had been hacked by a computer software support team. She was convinced she needed to move money into new accounts and buy about $250,000 worth of gold bars for security reasons. On May 1, 2024, Lambert traveled from Gainesville, Florida to St. Louis for this pickup but was intercepted by law enforcement at the victim’s home after switching vehicles several times with assistance from Parekh.
Parekh also acknowledged acting as a handler in gold bar pickups across Arizona (Yuma and Scottsdale), California (Placentia and La Jolla), Florida (Largo), North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh). Singh worked as a handler in Tennessee (Collierville), Texas (Universal City), and Wisconsin (Greendale). Darji handled pickups in Arizona (Scottsdale), Florida (Largo), and California (La Jolla) including receiving multiple FedEx packages containing gold from Largo victims.
Lambert served as courier in several locations including Arizona (Scottsdale), California (Placentia; La Jolla), Florida (Largo), Texas (Universal City), Massachusetts (Hanover), and Pennsylvania (Erie). Stevens acted as courier picking up gold from victims in Arizona; California; Tennessee; Florida; Wisconsin; New York; Ohio.
Parekh is unlawfully present in the United States after overstaying his work visa while Darji had previously been removed from the country in 2014.
Sentencing dates are set for Lambert, Stevens, and Parekh in November; Singh will be sentenced December 3; Darji on December 22. Each faces up to 30 years imprisonment or a $1 million fine—or both—on the wire fraud conspiracy charge.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations based in Tampa conducted the investigation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll prosecuting the case.
Victims of cyber scams are encouraged to report incidents through www.ic3.gov or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
