Scammers sentenced in federal court following scheme that targeted Granite Shoals’ residents
Two scammers were sentenced to years in prison and ordered to pay millions of dollars in restitution for an elaborate “phishing” racket which targeted elderly victims across the country, including a Granite Shoals resident who was swindled out of $180,000.
Dhruv Rajeshbhai Mangukiya, 21, an Indian national in the U.S. on a student visa, was sentenced to 97 months, just over eight years, in prison and ordered to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution for conspiracy to commit money laundering, while his coconspirator, Kishan Rajeshkumar Patel, 20, received a sentence of 63 months, or five years and three months, in June. The case was handled by the Western District of Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to federal filings, Mangukiya and Patel were part of a network of scammers that contacted vulnerable individuals, often elderly, through fraudulent messages and follow-up phone calls from scammers pretending to be federal officials in the hopes of getting valuable personal information, money, or valuables. This type of scheme is known as “phishing.”
The case drew in local authorities after federal investigators determined that Granite Shoals was among the communities targeted by the group’s operation. The FBI led the investigation with assistance from the Granite Shoals Police Department and the Fort Worth Police Department.
One of the victims, a Granite Shoals resident, was told by the scammers that his identity had been stolen and connected to drug cartels, and that he needed to provide funds to the U.S. Treasury Department to avoid legal trouble. Believing the claim, the resident withdrew and handed over $180,000 in three separate transactions.
A similar scam unfolded in Fort Worth, where a woman gave Patel $30,000 after being told her Social Security number had been misused and tied to a money laundering scheme.
Both Mangukiya and Patel were charged in a two-count superseding indictment on Dec. 3, 2024. Patel pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on March 18, while Mangukiya pleaded guilty on June 16 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Court documents show that Mangukiya collected cash and gold from victims and shared the proceeds with his coconspirators. Following Patel’s arrest in August 2024, investigators recovered messages linking both men to two other individuals identified only as “Hunter” and “Master.”
Mangukiya was arrested in New Jersey on Dec. 5, 2024, where agents seized $73,422.96 in cash and a printer used to produce fake identification documents. He later admitted to receiving a percentage of the fraud proceeds and recruiting Patel as a courier.