Yet Another Indian Student Arrested For Targeting Seniors

Photo: Shelby Township Police Department

India-West News Desk

DETROIT, MI – Yet another Indian student has been arrested for allegedly scamming senior citizens—this time a 25-year-old student named Vedantkumar Bhupenbhai Patel, who is accused of defrauding an elderly couple in Michigan out of $50,000.

ICE has since placed a detainer on Patel, potentially leading to deportation proceedings after the criminal case is resolved.

According to the Shelby Township Police Department, Patel contacted the couple via email, falsely claiming there were charges on their credit card for purchasing child pornography. He pressured the victims to withdraw $50,000 from their bank account to supposedly prevent legal action. Patel instructed them to place the money in a box for pickup by a “Treasury agent” and warned them not to disclose the situation to anyone.

Two days later, Patel showed up at the couple’s home impersonating a federal agent and collected the cash. Authorities prioritized the investigation upon learning the victims had been targeted in this serious fraud.

Police now believe Patel had already sent the stolen funds to India and was in the process of attempting additional scams when he was arrested in Toledo, Ohio. He was subsequently extradited to Michigan.

This marks the fourth such case in just three weeks involving Indian students in the U.S. allegedly scamming elderly residents. In early May, another Indian student, Kishan Kumar Singh, was arrested for attempting to extort money from a 78-year-old woman while impersonating a law enforcement officer. The previous month, two Indian students were detained for posing as government agents and stealing money and gold from a senior citizen.

All of the cases appear to follow a similar pattern: impersonation, intimidation, and targeting of vulnerable elderly individuals—raising growing concern over a disturbing trend.