A California man was sentenced Friday in federal court in New York to four years in prison for defrauding American Express of about $4.7 million and for laundering the proceeds of his fraud, officials stated.
According to the evidence presented at trial, between November 2017 and December 2019, Jasminder Singh, 45, of Fremont, used four business entities. He also had 10 American Express credit cards in those entities’ names to purchase thousands of Apple iPhones.
He then sold the iPhones to overseas purchasers for millions of dollars.
As part of his scheme, Singh falsely told American Express that he was unable to repay approximately $4.7 million in charges incurred from the purchase of the iPhones. Then, he created fake payment invoices in order to secure additional credit from American Express.
Singh then used the proceeds of the scheme to pay for personal expenses and to buy luxury items, including a $1.3 million home and a luxury vehicle.
Singh was ordered to pay $4.6 million in restitution and ordered to forfeit $3 million.
The FBI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Patrick J. Campbell of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael W. Gibaldi of the Eastern District of New York prosecuted the case.