Shaggy's scam roped in from several dozen to several hundred people, who called US residents and pretended to be members of the Internal Revenue Service, or to be immigration or other federal officials and demanded payments for nonexistent debts.
The phone bandits threatened their victims with arrest, imprisonment, fines or deportation, should they refuse to pay up. According to the indictment, payments by victims were laundered by a US network of co-conspirators using prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, often using stolen or fake identities.
Overall, more than 15,000 people were affected by the fraud, and the total amount of money extorted is estimated to be more than $300 million. This was enough for Shaggy to afford a luxury lifestyle of lush hotels and expensive cars, media report.
While Shaggy was smart enough to flee overseas after his scam was uncovered, he made a grave mistake in returning to India, where Indian authorities were reportedly working with their American counterparts on the investigation.
While US prosecutors initially charged 60 people with being involved in the scam in both in the US and India, Indian police later detained about 700 people they believe to have played a part. The US has said it would be seeking the extradition of alleged scammers based in India.
