The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged a New York native with laundering counterfeit checks amounting to $1.7 million. The suspect, 44-year-old Tushal Rathod, was reported to the FBI by his former partner after seeing suspicious screenshots on his device.
These screenshots included evidence of crypto transactions and conversations in other languages. According to the court filing, Rathod allegedly received $1.2 million worth of BTC through a network of seven bank accounts at six different financial institutions. His former partner noticed the scheme after Rathod repeatedly complained about his bank accounts being closed.
FBI charges man with conspiracy to commit wire fraud
The FBI has charged Rahod with multiple counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The alleged crimes took place between November 2021 and June 2024.
In the court filing, the FBI revealed that as part of the investigations, the FBI had obtained records from Google for [email protected], Apple iCloud accounts belonging to the same email, and [email protected], all via court order. The FBI also claimed that Rathod incorporated two companies he used in the scheme.
In 2016, Rathod registered T3 Telecom, LLC, a telecommunications company that tested and deployed network devices. He also incorporated TSV Telecom Constructions LLC in 2021. The agency also noted that between April 2022 and June 2024, the accused received over $1.7 million in suspected fraudulent proceeds from business email compromise (BEC) fraud and counterfeit checks.
The accused received the funds through six different financial institutions, with five accounts belonging to T3 Telecommunications and one for TSV Telecommunications. BEC fraud originates from compromised employee login credentials through spear phishing. Scammers intercept information about the company’s upcoming payments and deceive vendors into completing payments through fake domains.
The accused also allegedly recruited other people to aid his plan, including his former girlfriend, the owner of the iCloud account associated with [email protected], to create businesses and open business bank accounts. According to the court filing by the FBI, Rathod also recruited his family members between May and July 2024 to assist in the scheme, which resulted in an additional $1 million deposited into accounts controlled by his girlfriend and family members.
Rathod’s first victim was a Rhode Island real estate law firm in 2022, with the firm losing approximately $163,298. The victim received an email that impersonated an employee at Northpointe Bank, directing the victim to send funds to an account supposedly belonging to a Mortgage Company, Carrington Mortgage, associated with a valid real estate transaction. His second victim was the California Credit Union. The firm lost approximately $8 million to bank accounts controlled by other scammers.
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