Indian American caught in Macy’s money laundering scheme

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Indian American Suraj Patel, 38, of Long Beach, California, was ordered to pay approximately $925,000 to Macy’s after he was pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering in a $3.5 million distribution scheme from which he profited.

According to cincinnati.com, Rudy Rampertab, 46, of Ocoee, Flordia, was already sentenced in July to six months in prison for one count each of mail fraud and money laundering.

Court documents state that Rampertab was a Macy’s employee who managed Macy’s distribution center in Carson, California and supervised the transport of merchandise to centers throughout the country and in July 2010, Rampertab began diverting the shipment to Patel, who has established several shipping companies.

Rampertab even obtained approval for Patel’s companies to become third-party vendors for Macy’s but did not disclose that he operated and profited from the vendors.

Prosecutors told cincinnati.com that Patel’s companies had received more than $3.5 million in Macy’s shipping and packaging jobs between July and December 2010 and together Patel and Rampertab generated more than $900,000 in net profits from the diverted business.

They then used the proceeds to purchase real estate and vehicles, including a 2010 Aston Martin that cost $199,000.

In September 2016, Patel pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering and will serve one day in prison, followed by six months of home confinement as part of his three years of supervised release.