Texas inmate serving 78 months for elder fraud pleads guilty to another prison scam – his sentence may be getting a sequel

Texas inmate Sumit Kumar Singh, 32, has pleaded guilty to another federal fraud charge, despite already serving a 78-month prison sentence for targeting older Americans. Prosecutors say Singh managed to get hold of a prohibited cell phone while incarcerated and used it to help coordinate another scam. The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced his guilty plea on Oct. 15.

The people involved in the new operation posed as PayPal employees or federal agents when contacting older Americans. They told victims that hackers had accessed their money or that their funds were connected to drug cartels. The callers claimed they could help recover the money or clear the victims’ names, but first, the victims had to send payments. Some reportedly used the name of Attorney General Pam Bondi to make their claims sound official.

A 93-year-old woman in North Dakota was among those who lost money. She spoke to a caller who identified himself as “Mark” and believed she was helping federal authorities get new identity documents. She mailed a personal check for $45,000 to someone involved in the operation in Edinburg, Texas.

This was not even his first conviction

The check was deposited into a Wells Fargo business account on Aug. 6, 2025, according to Wealth of Geeks. The person who received it kept some of the money as payment and passed the rest along to other members of the group.

The phone Singh allegedly used in prison became an important part of the investigation. In August 2025, he sent a photograph of the woman’s check to an outside contact saved as “David.” Two days later, he sent a picture of the bank deposit receipt to another contact using an Indian phone number. Investigators with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service reviewed the digital records as they worked to connect Singh to the transaction.

This was not Singh’s first conviction for a fraud operation targeting older people. In the earlier case, he worked as a courier for a tech-support scam that involved remote access to victims’ computers. The group made it appear that victims had received oversized refunds, then persuaded them to send money back to correct the supposed mistake.

He might be facing five additional years

In September 2023, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt sentenced Singh and three co-defendants to 78 months in prison for their roles in the multi-million-dollar operation. Nearly 200 victims submitted statements about the financial losses and emotional distress they experienced.

Singh was indicted again in April 2026. The original indictment included five counts, among them mail fraud allegations involving victims aged 93, 76 and 89. U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. has accepted Singh’s guilty plea, with sentencing scheduled for Dec. 21, 2026. He faces up to five additional years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000. That sentence would come on top of the prison term he is already serving.