Illegal alien convicted for his role as delivery driver in scam targeting elderly Gainesville man

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Atharva Shailesh Sathawane, 22, of India, has been found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin said, “This successful prosecution was made possible by the outstanding investigative work of our local and federal law enforcement partners, and this criminal alien will be held accountable for his role in the financial exploitation of several vulnerable, elderly victims. I am incredibly proud of the work by my office to pursue justice on behalf of the defrauded victims in this case, and we will see to it that fraudsters are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The victim, who was 83 years old at the time, was the target of a scheme in which a scammer contacted him by phone and said $100 had been sent to his PayPal account, so he needed to pay it back. The scammer then told the victim that $10,000 had been sent to his PayPal account, and he needed to pay it back in Bitcoin. The victim reportedly paid the money into an unknown crypto wallet.

The scammer then told the victim that $200,000 had been sent to his PayPal account and in order to avoid taxes, he needed to send $200,000 in gold. The victim purchased 68 gold coins, worth $198,560, and was told to send pictures of the coins and the box they were in. The scammer then said that a courier would come back to get the coins. On February 6, the courier arrived in a black Mustang, and the victim gave the driver, later identified as Sathawane, the coins.

A short time later, the scammer told the victim that he needed to pay back another $200,000, but this time the victim became suspicious and contacted the police.

A Gainesville Police Department officer contacted the victim, who told the scammer that he had purchased another 68 gold coins. On February 13, 2025, officers went to the victim’s home, and after the scammer told the victim that the courier was on the way, they watched as a black Mustang pulled up in front of the victim’s house. When the scammer told the victim that the courier was at his house, patrol officers detained the driver.

The victim said he recognized the Mustang but not the driver.

Post Miranda, Sathawane reportedly said he was in Gainesville to pick up a package and deliver it somewhere and that he has been picking up and delivering packages for about a month. He said he knew the packages contained gold because he had to open them and send pictures of the contents to his employers. He reportedly said that after a few pickups, he knew what he was doing was wrong, but the money was too good. He said that depending on how far he had to travel, the scammer paid him between $800 and $1,200 to pick up the packages. He said the people he speaks to are in India and Chicago, and sometimes they change names. He said he delivered some of the packages to Clearwater and that he had been in Gainesville the previous week to pick up a package from the same victim.

According to the U.S. Attorney, a subsequent search of Sathawane’s phone confirmed his involvement in an extensive elder fraud scheme, including participation in over 30 transactions in numerous states. Numerous American citizens lost their entire life savings or experienced substantial financial hardship.

Sathawane faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment for each count.

The case involved a joint investigation by the Gainesville Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam Hapner.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 16, 2025, at 10:00 am at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor.