A previous Plainville resident was arraigned in Worcester federal court in connection with a wire fraud scheme. The victims of the scheme were told that they owed money to the IRS.

Ashokkumar Patel, 28, who was living in Illinois at the time, was indicted on June 14, 2018, on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering. He was arrested in June of last year, charged by criminal complaint, and released from custody on conditions.

The fraud lasted from December 2013 to October 2014, and victims were told they owed money to the IRS and in order to avoid arrest, they had to buy and load thousands of dollars onto prepaid store value cards and provide serial numbers to the callers. After the money was transferred to the prepaid debit card, money orders were purchased and deposited into various bank accounts. Patel was in charge of the prepaid debit cards, getting the money orders and depositing the money, according to the charging documents.

Patel faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 for both the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and the charge of wire fraud. On top of those charges, he also faces 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, on charges of money laundering.