Phone scammers posing as Spark staff jailed for $833k fraud on retirees

The scammers had a warped sense of humour, playing a “prank which was likely to cause extreme embarrassment” to an 89-year-old victim by writing “sex toy” in the bank reference field when they stole nearly $10,000.

The scammers had all come to New Zealand to study before being recruited to the criminal scheme.

They also recruited homeless people by taking them for beers then convincing them to hand over access to their bank accounts, cards and PIN numbers, which were used to receive and transfer stolen money.

The criminals called themselves “Steve Williams” and in some cases used encrypted virtual private network software to make it appear they were calling the victims from Spain or Portugal.

But in an affidavit to the court after his July 2024 arrest, the ring’s main New Zealand-based operative, Pargat Singh Bhangu, said his offending was “not motivated by greed” but “by my desire to help my family escape poverty and debts”.

Bhangu appeared for sentencing today in Auckland District Court alongside his two co-defendants, Harmandeep Singh and Gurwinder Singh.

The trio were all charged with participating in an organised criminal group, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

The court heard there was no realistic prospect of any reparation being paid.

And though the three men are likely to be deported, one says he is at risk if he returns to India and has applied for asylum here as a refugee.

Judge Stephen Bonnar, KC, said the crimes had a “profound” and “life-changing” effect on the victims, some of whom had since died.

They had suffered significant financial losses in the twilight years of their lives.

“Many stated they will not be able to recover from the offending.”

The victims also reported suffering emotional and psychological harm, increased anxiety and damage to their physical health.

“They are now less trusting and have increased dependency on others,” the judge said.

“A number of them express feeling of fear when they receive telephone calls.”

Many felt self-conscious, embarrassment and shame at being duped.

Judge Bonnar said the syndicate specialised in cold-call Spark and banking scams that deliberately targeted vulnerable retirees.

They would make telephone calls pretending to be representatives of trusted companies already used by the victims.

Once they had gained the victim’s trust, the scammers would convince them to allow remote access to computers, personal information, emails and bank accounts, enabling the fraudulent money transfers.

The highly sophisticated scams involved mobile telephones, landlines, computer software, encrypted communications apps, identification documents, bank accounts, bank cards, Prezzy Cards, ATM machines and money transfers through the likes of Western Union and Wise.

The stolen funds were used for purchases in New Zealand and overseas, and cash transfers both domestically and to associates in India. Large amounts of money were also withdrawn from ATMs.

To make the group’s activities more successful, they learned to launder the money and transfer it as quickly as possible to avoid recovery or interception by the victims’ banks.

Some of the money was recovered and the total actual losses were $422,000.

The court heard Bhangu, 30, had prior convictions for money laundering.

His lawyer Aaron Kashyap told the court his client came to New Zealand as a student but was recruited to the scheme due to financial hardship.

Bhangu was “not the head” of the syndicate, Kashyap claimed.

“He was like a soldier. The operation was run from India. He got entrapped.”

But Judge Bonnar described Bhangu as the group’s “trusted New Zealand lieutenant” and lead operative. He had recruited others to the scheme and his offending spanned five years from June 2019.

The judge did not accept Bhangu’s claims about committing the frauds to help his family, saying it was “calculated and cynical offending” motivated solely by financial gain.

Bhangu alleged he personally earned about $80,000 from the scheme, but he had lied about his knowledge and involvement to a probation report writer, the judge said.

Bhangu had not shown genuine remorse and was considered at high risk of reoffending.

Some of his most recent offending was committed while on bail and he was unable to offer any reparation to his victims, the judge said.

He was sentenced to three years and eight months in jail.

The other two defendants had played lesser roles but were still instrumental in the fraudulent scheme, the judge said.

Harmandeep Singh had “minimised” his offending and the remorse he expressed was for himself and his family, rather than his victims, Judge Bonnar said.

He was jailed for two years and eight months.

Gurwinder Singh, 35, claimed to have only received up to $6000 for his role.

A probation report said contributing factors to his offending were drug abuse and “pro-criminal attitudes”.

However, the judge found he had shown some genuine remorse and insight, and had no previous convictions.

He was sentenced to 24 months in prison, which meant he was eligible for immediate release given time already served.

Lane Nichols is Auckland desk editor for the New Zealand Herald with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.

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