- Supporting data: Sathawane is liable for $4.3 million in restitution to 12 specific individuals, with single-person losses ranging from $50,000 to over $1.2 million.
- Key insight: The scheme bypassed anti-money laundering controls by convincing victims to convert securities into gold bars before handing them to couriers.
- What's at stake: Prosecutors argued the courier knew he was aiding fraud, presenting evidence that he watched videos about arrested scammers days before his own arrest.
Overview bullets generated by AI with editorial review
A federal judge has sentenced a 23-year-old Indian national to 18 years in prison for his role as a courier in a fraud ring that stripped more than $6.6 million from elderly victims.
Atharva Shailesh Sathawane, who prosecutors claim overstayed his student visa, participated in an international conspiracy that manipulated seniors into turning their retirement savings into gold and cash, which they then handed off to couriers, according to court documents. Prosecutors announced the sentence Monday.
The case illustrates a money laundering mechanism where criminals exploit the banking system to convert securities into physical assets, bypassing traditional anti-money laundering controls.
The scheme relied on convincing victims to move funds from investment accounts — such as certificates of deposit and stocks — into checking accounts to wire funds to gold dealers, according to trial testimony from a victim.
A federal jury found Sathawane guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering on Oct. 3. On Friday, Sathawane appealed his conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta.
Anatomy of the 'gold rush'
Prosecutors told the court the scheme began with fraudsters contacting elderly victims under the guise of federal agents or tech support. In one instance, a victim was told her identity was compromised and she needed to move her assets to the "Treasury Department" for safekeeping, according to her testimony.
The perpetrators directed victims to liquidate their holdings and wire funds to specific coin and jewelry dealers to purchase gold bars, according to court documents.
Sathawane's counsel opted during his trial to put him on the witness stand, where he testified that he traveled to victims' homes or met them in parking lots to retrieve the assets.
Sathawane immediately opened the packages upon receipt to verify their contents before sending photographic proof to his handlers, according to testimony he gave during cross-examination.
Sathawane then brought the proceeds to other co-conspirators, often at gas stations and fast-food restaurants.
Text messages indicate Sathawane and his associates adopted the term "gold rusher" to describe their role ferrying stolen assets from elderly victims to higher-level conspirators.
For example, associate Roberto Navarrete (saved in Sathawane's phone as "Robert De Niro") messaged Sathawane asking, "Do any gold rush today," to which Sathawane replied "yee," according to government exhibits.
Did Sathawane know he was part of a fraud scheme?
During the trial, Sathawane claimed he believed he was participating in an "off-market gold trading" business to help individuals evade taxes rather than a fraud scheme, according to his testimony.
He said that he delivered packages to legitimate jewelers, identifying one such recipient only as "Steve," an individual he believed worked for a jewelry store in Orlando.
Prosecutors argued that Sathawane knew or deliberately avoided knowing that he was engaged in criminal activity. For example, they showed the jury evidence that Sathawane, days before his arrest, received YouTube videos on his phone titled "Indian Scammer Steals $400k in Gold Bars, Gets Busted" and "Indian Scammer Busted by Cops at Victim's Front Door."
The judge in the case instructed the jury that, to be found guilty, Sathawane would have to be more than negligent; he would have to be deliberately ignorant of the fraud scheme he was supporting.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor instructed the jury that they could convict if Sathawane had "every reason to know" he was transporting illicit funds but "deliberately closed his eyes" to the fact.
Winsor also specified to the jury that "failing to act with the diligence or care that a reasonable person would" (i.e. acting negligently) is not enough to prove knowledge.
Sentencing and restitution
Winsor imposed the 18-year sentence after the jury convicted Sathawane. The defense had requested a significantly shorter sentence, citing cases where defendants received between 60 and 216 months for similar or larger fraud roles, according to a sentencing memorandum.
The sheer scale of the loss drove the severity of the sentence. Sathawane personally retrieved or laundered over $6.6 million and attempted to collect an additional $1.3 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Winsor ordered Sathawane to pay $4,356,691.28 in restitution to the victims of the fraud scheme, according to the judgment filed Jan. 15. The court identified 12 specific individuals to whom Sathawane is liable, with individual loss amounts ranging from $50,000 to over $1.2 million.
Following the conviction, the court also ordered Sathawane to forfeit his iPhone, which he used to coordinate the logistics of the thefts, according to a preliminary order on the matter.
"Elder fraud schemes like this one are taking place every day in every state, but especially in Florida due to our large population of retirees," said U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin in a Monday press release.
