California: Indian-origin man sentenced to jail for smuggling more than 800 Indians using Uber app

A 49-year-old Indian-origin man has been sentenced to over three years in prison for smuggling more than 800 Indian citizens into the US using the Uber ride-hailing app.

Team Newsable

First Published Jun 28, 2023, 6:07 PM IST | Last Updated Jul 4, 2023, 12:25 PM IST

A 49-year-old man of Indian origin was sentenced to over three years in prison for using the ride-hailing service Uber to smuggle more than 800 Indian nationals into the United States. According to a news release from the Department of Justice, Rajinder Pal Singh, also known as Jaspal Gill, entered a guilty plea in February and acknowledged participating in a smuggling network that brought hundreds of Indian citizens from Canada across the border while taking in more than USD 500,000.

Singh, a resident of California, was sentenced on Tuesday in a US District Court to "45 months in prison for Conspiracy to Transport and Harbor Certain Aliens for Profit and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering," said Acting US Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

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"Over a four-year period, Mr Singh arranged for more than 800 people to be smuggled into the US across the northern border and into Washington State," said Gorman.

She claimed that Singh's actions not only put Washington's security at risk but also put individuals who were being smuggled in danger along the frequently lengthy smuggling path from India to the US.

"Mr Singh's participation in this conspiracy preyed upon the Indian nationals' hopes for a better life in the US while saddling those smuggled with a crushing debt of as much as USD 70,000," Gorman said.

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According to the news release, which cited documents submitted in the case, starting in July 2018, Singh and his accomplices used Uber to transport individuals who had illegitimately crossed the border from Canada to the Seattle region. Singh organised more than 600 journeys involving the transportation of Indian people who were being trafficked into the US illegally between mid-2018 and May 2022.

According to research estimates, the 17 Uber accounts connected to the smuggling operation accrued more than USD 80,000 in charges between July 2018 and April 2022.

Singh's co-conspirators would use the one-way vehicle rentals to transport those smuggled to their ultimate destinations outside Washington state in trips that usually began near the border in the early hours and were split between different rides, the press release said.

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The smuggling ring's members also employed sophisticated techniques to launder the illegal gains. Singh acknowledged in the plea deal that the complicated money movement was done to hide the fact that the funds were obtained illegally.

According to the news release, investigators also seized around $45,000 in cash and fake identification documents from one of Singh's California properties.

Singh, who is not authorised to be in the country, will probably be deported after serving his sentence.

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