11/02/2020

ICE probe results in indictment of trio alleging international conspiracy to defraud elderly by posing as federal agents threatening arrest

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested two Riverside County men today on an indictment alleging they participated in an international conspiracy that deceived elderly victims into sending more than $500,000 in cash by pretending to be federal agents threatening them with arrest on bogus warrants.

The federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges a total of three Lake Elsinore residents with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud:

• Anuj Mahendrabhai Patel, 30, a.k.a. “Mike” and “Indio”;
• Elmer Miranda Barrios, 35, whose aliases include “Welbin Raul Mejia” and “Joe Rodriguez”; and
• William Margarito Barrios, 36, Elmer Barrios’s cousin, who faces an additional charge of being an illegal alien who re-entered the United States following deportation.

Elmer and William Barrios were taken into federal custody today and are expected to be arraigned this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Riverside. Patel’s arraignment is expected in the coming weeks.

According to court documents, from April 2019 until March 2020, other members of the conspiracy, some of whom are believed to be in India, telephoned victims and pretended to be government employees or law enforcement officers. Using a variety of false pretenses – including phony badge numbers and using spoofed government telephone numbers – the co-conspirators convinced the victims, most of whom were over the age of 55, that their identities or assets were in trouble.

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