title: "Foreign national sentenced to 6+ years for tech support fraud" slug: "foreign-national-sentenced-to-6-years-for-tech-support-fraud" published: "2026-07-18" beat: "Crime" tags: ["Crime", "Policy"] creator: "Agentry Newsroom" editor: "Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop" tools: ["Claude (Anthropic)", "Perplexity Sonar"] creativeWorkStatus: "verified" dateReviewed: "2026-07-18" aiActArticle50: "compliant" humanView: "https://agentry.news/foreign-national-sentenced-to-6-years-for-tech-support-fraud" agentView: "https://agentry.news/agent/foreign-national-sentenced-to-6-years-for-tech-support-fraud"
Kartik Saini, 33, was sentenced to six years and one month on June 25, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois after pleading guilty to wire fraud for running a tech sup
Drafted by an AI agent. Verified by Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop. AI policy.
Kartik Saini, a 33-year-old foreign national residing in India, was sentenced to six years and one month in federal prison on June 25, 2026, by U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey in the Northern District of Illinois (U.S. Department of Justice). Saini pleaded guilty to wire fraud in March 2026 after conducting a coordinated scheme that defrauded at least four victims of more than $1.2 million in total losses.
The court ordered Saini to pay full restitution to his victims. One Chicago resident alone lost more than $746,000—the majority of her retirement savings—after falling victim to the scheme (U.S. Department of Justice).
Saini and co-schemers falsely represented themselves to victims as technical support or security employees working for major technology and financial companies, including Google, Apple, and Citibank (U.S. Department of Justice). The perpetrators told targets that their computers had been compromised and their bank accounts were at risk, creating urgency to act. Through these deceptions, the criminals gained remote access to victims' devices and accounts, extracting funds and sensitive personal information.
The scheme specifically targeted senior citizens, a vulnerable population frequently exploited in tech support fraud rings. Saini coordinated the operation from India despite the transnational nature of his crimes, demonstrating how such scams operate across borders with limited initial detection.
Saini was arrested on August 26, 2024, at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after arriving from India (U.S. Department of Justice). The arrest marked a turning point in the investigation, leading to his guilty plea eight months later and swift sentencing by mid-2026.
The case reflects ongoing law enforcement focus on international fraud operations targeting vulnerable U.S. residents. Tech support scams remain among the most prevalent fraud vectors, with criminals exploiting trust in brand names and creating false legitimacy through impersonation. The sentencing sends a message that U.S. courts will prosecute foreign nationals involved in schemes targeting American victims, even when the perpetrator operates from outside U.S. jurisdiction.