Indian National Sentenced to 41 Months’ Imprisonment for Defrauding Telephone Providers and Insurance Companies of Millions of Dollars’ Worth of Merchandise

NEWARK, N.J. - An Indian national was sentenced on April 21, 2026 to 41 months of imprisonment for his role as the leader of a conspiracy to defraud various telephone providers and insurance companies out of millions of dollars by using stolen or fake identities to submit fraudulent claims for replacement cellular devices and then reselling those devices outside the United States, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.

Dhananjay Singh, 35, an Indian national, previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to an Information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transfer of stolen property.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From June 2013 through June 2019, Singh was involved in a widespread scheme to defraud cellular telephone providers and insurance companies using the U.S. mail system, as well as other third-party mail carriers. Singh and his co-conspirators used stolen and fake identities to submit false claims for lost, stolen or damaged cellular telephones, as well as other devices, in order to obtain replacement devices. Singh and his co-conspirators maintained a network of mailboxes and storage units across the United States, including in New Jersey, where the replacement devices would be shipped and then held before being sold to third parties outside the United States. The scheme resulted in millions of dollars of losses to the cellular telephone providers and insurance companies.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Arleo sentenced Singh to 3 years of supervised release and ordered restitution of over $10 million dollars.

U.S. Attorney Frazer credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Roddy in Newark and Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. in New York, postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division; special agents of Homeland Security Investigations Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Terence S. Opiola; officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, New York Field Office, under the direction of Director of Field Operations Frank Russo; and the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, New York Field Office, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Wood with the investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant United States Attorney Rachelle M. Navarro of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering, and Recovery Unit.

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Defense counsel: Jeffrey Lichtman, Esq. and Jeffrey Einhorn, Esq.