An Irving, Texas, businessman, Narasimha Bhogavalli, 50, was arrested on Wednesday morning by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on a federal complaint charging him with an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) impersonation scam that defrauded victims of money that Bhogavalli then transferred between accounts and wired to India.
Victims from throughout the U.S. were contacted by individuals claiming to be IRS agents. Victims were advised there were outstanding warrants for their arrest and they would be sent to jail unless they deposited money orders, and sometimes cash, into bank accounts controlled by Bhogavalli and other accounts used by co-conspirators in the scam.
Between November 5, 2014, and February 2, 2015, approximately 242 deposits of cash and money orders, totaling approximately $1,661,247, which includes at least 2,250 separate money orders totaling $1,493,848 were made in one of the Bank of America accounts. During the two-week period, between approximately January 16, 2015, and January 30, 2015, at least 60 money orders, totaling $37,957 were deposited into the other Bank of America account. Between November 4, 2014, and February 5, 2015, at least 128 money orders, totaling $96,716 were deposited into the Citibank account.
A financial analysis of those accounts, according to the complaint, shows that immediately following the deposits made by the victims of the money soliciting scam, the proceeds were wire transferred to other accounts Bhogavalli controlled, where he either spent the funds or wired the funds to accounts in other countries, such as India. Numerous wire transfers were made in amounts greater than $10,000. The maximum statutory penalty for the charged offense is 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
