Canadian authorities detained Jay Sunilbharthi Goswami, a 21-year-old Indian national living in New Jersey, at Toronto Pearson International Airport one day after a federal magistrate judge released him on pretrial conditions, federal prosecutors announced Friday. Investigators found a booking for Goswami on a flight to Qatar scheduled to depart that evening.
A criminal complaint accuses Goswami of serving as a courier in an internet- and telephone-based scheme that allegedly cost nine victims approximately $7,559,185.
It charges him with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The charges are allegations. Goswami is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Couriers allegedly collected cash and gold
IRS Criminal Investigation learned of the suspected operation in January 2026. The complaint alleges that conspirators falsely told older victims that someone had compromised their bank accounts, money or personal information.
The perpetrators then allegedly posed as law enforcement officers or other authority figures and pressured victims to convert their assets into cash, gold or gift cards. Couriers would collect the cash or gold and deliver it to other members of the alleged conspiracy, prosecutors said.
Goswami personally collected or conspired to collect cash and gold from victims in New York and New Jersey on at least nine occasions, the complaint alleges. The nine victims ranged from 59 to 87 and lost a combined $7,559,185.
Goswami also deposited more than $90,000 in cash into a Bank of America account between August 1, 2025, and April 6, 2026. Investigators believe the deposits were consistent with compensation he allegedly received for serving as a courier.
Canadian authorities detain Goswami before Qatar flight
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen released Goswami on conditions Monday after his initial court appearance. At approximately 10:25 a.m. Tuesday, he crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada, prosecutors said. Law enforcement later found a booking for him on a flight from Toronto to Doha, Qatar, scheduled to depart that evening.
The U.S. Probation Office submitted a violation report, and the court issued an arrest warrant.
Canadian authorities detained Goswami at Toronto Pearson at approximately 7:13 p.m. on immigration grounds. Canadian authorities formally arrested him Thursday pursuant to a U.S. request for provisional arrest. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs is assisting with efforts to extradite him to the United States.
The Justice Department release identified Goswami as a citizen of India living in Jersey City but did not disclose his immigration status in the United States.
Similar scams reached Texas
A federal court in Austin sentenced Indian national Dhruv Rajeshbhai Mangukiya, 21, to 97 months in prison on November 13, 2025. The court also ordered him to pay $2,515,780 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in a similar elder-fraud operation.
The scheme included a Fort Worth woman who surrendered $30,000 to a courier after a caller falsely claimed that criminals had linked her Social Security number to money laundering, the Justice Department said.
A separate multinational case involving victims in Texas used the same tactic of sending couriers to collect cash and gold after scammers posed as government officials, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Provided by Dallas Express
