Checks in the Mail, Proceeds to India: Seven Sentenced in a $12 Million Phone Scheme

That's the triangle in this one.

What happened?

On September 12, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced that a jury convicted Yveler Marcellus, 32, of Brooklyn, of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The verdict came after a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon.

Marcellus faces up to 40 years in prison at sentencing.

How the scheme worked

As proven at trial, between January 2022 and December 2023:

• Co-conspirators in India ran a "tech" scheme, calling victims and preying on their fears that their money was compromised and that they were in trouble with the law.
• They convinced victims to send checks and money orders to Marcellus and other U.S. co-conspirators at addresses in the Eastern District of New York.
• Marcellus and others laundered the proceeds through their own accounts and accounts they controlled, shared the proceeds, and sent the rest to India.

The scheme is estimated to have netted over $12 million from victims across the U.S.

Seven co-conspirators had already pleaded guilty and were awaiting sentencing. The case is E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 24-CR-9 (CBA).

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) investigated, with help from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Nassau County Police Department.

Update: the sentences

On January 7, 2026, the office announced that Judge Amon sentenced seven defendants. Marcellus got 70 months. Felix Marcial got 66 months, Asheem Henry 55, George Mims and Rahmel Thompson 42 each, Daquan Mitchell 30, and Tatiana Williams a year and a day. Total restitution was $12,488,884.33, plus forfeiture orders, including $185,000 for Marcellus.

Here's the thing ...

The calls came from India. The money came through Brooklyn. Read that again.

That's the pattern in so many of these cases. The overseas callers are hard to reach. The U.S. side isn't. Prosecutors go after the people with American bank accounts and American addresses, because that's where the money becomes visible.

So if you ever get approached to "receive some checks" for somebody, or "deposit a few payments and keep a cut"? That's not a job. That's a federal conspiracy charge with a 40-year ceiling.

What to do this week

• Warn your team and your family about "receive and forward" job offers.
• Banks and fintechs: watch for accounts receiving lots of checks from elderly strangers.
• Never ask customers to mail checks to personal addresses.
• If a caller says your money is "compromised," hang up and call your bank yourself.