Prison For Man Who Ran Fraud Scheme From Casino Hotels

BRIDGEPORT, CT — He stole $860,000 from nearly 500 victims, many of Indian descent or Indian, like himself. And he ran his complicated fraud scheme while staying in casino hotels in Connecticut. But now, Kishore Babu Ammisetti, 31, a citizen of India, will spend the next 28 months in a federal lock-up for operating a “provisional credit” scheme.

The Mohegan Tribal Police helped federal investigators with the case.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Ammisetti used Facebook Marketplace and other media to victimize individuals, primarily of Indian decent, who advertised items for sale or rooms for rent. Through this scheme, Ammisetti would contact a victim to express interest in purchasing an item or renting a room. He would then gather the victim’s bank account information and other personal information under the guise of making a deposit to the victim’s bank account. He also would offer to provide a “deposit” directly into the victim’s account via a Peer-to-Peer transfer.

Ammisetti would then contact the victim’s bank and, posing as the victim, would claim to have made an ATM deposit that did not register on the victim’s bank account. While researching the “unregistered deposit,” the bank would credit the victim’s account with a provisional credit. Ammisetti would then contact the victim and claim that the provisional credit to the victim’s bank account was a mistaken transfer by Ammisetti to the victim’s account.

Ammisetti would then request either a full or partial refund of that money, which the victim would provide via a peer to peer transfer. After the bank found no unregistered deposit to the victim’s account, the funds provided as a provisional credit would be removed from the account.

And that's how Ammisetti stole at least $860,000 from approximately 500 victims. Prosecutors said he often operated this scheme while staying at casino hotels in Connecticut.

Ammisetti has been in jail since he was arrested in January. In April, he pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. Ammisetti entered the U.S. in 2013 on a student visa, which was revoked in 2014. He faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term.