This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Connecticut), published as received.
KETAN KAMDAR, 61, a resident of Katy, Texas, and JHEEL KAMDAR, 30, of Katy, Texas, have been charged by indictment with offenses related to a trade-based money laundering scheme involving the purchase and sale of used copiers from American companies to pay operators of alleged fraud schemes in India.
The announcement was made by David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; James Guanci, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement, Boston; P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the FBI; Jeff Grimming, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New England; Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England; and Jessica Herrington, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office.
As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, trade-based money laundering (“TBML”) is a method of money laundering in which criminals use proceeds or anticipated proceeds of illegal activity to purchase goods in one country and then ship the goods to another country where they are resold for currency in the destination country. While the movement of goods may still be useful, the primary goal of TBML is financial movement, not the goods used in the purported commercial activity.
The indictment alleges that Ketan Kamdar, a citizen of India, was the majority owner of Jainam International, Inc., a used copier wholesaler based in Houston, Texas. Ketan Kamdar and his daughter, Jheel Kamdar, were both listed in various corporate filings and other documents as President of Jainam International. Since approximately 2023, Ketan Kamdar and Jheel Kamdar conspired with individuals based in India to launder the proceeds of frauds schemes. The Kamdars used Jainam International to purchase used copiers from companies, including companies based in Connecticut, with fraudulently obtained funds received from their Indian co-conspirators. The copiers were then shipped to Texas, and then to India where they were sold to pay the India-based conspirators in India’s native currency, rupees. The Kamdars fabricated invoices to reflect false sales for items they did not sell, and which misrepresented that the used copiers were sold to companies in Singapore and India that were controlled by the Kamdar family.
As an example, the indictment alleges that in June 2024, a Massachusetts resident (the “victim”) was contacted by a co-conspirator of the Kamdars who claimed to be from the Social Security Administration and told the victim that the victim had been charged with a crime. In order to resolve the purported charges, the victim withdrew approximately $248,000 from a retirement account and, as instructed, deposited the money into five different bank accounts, including more than $48,000 into a bank account held in the name of Jainam International. Jainam International accounted for the funds through fabricated invoices as payments for the sale of used copiers from a company based in India that was controlled by Ketan Kamdar. The proceeds from the sale of the used copiers in India were then used to pay the India-based criminals in rupees.
Ketan Kamdar and Jheel Kamdar were arrested on federal criminal complaints on September 2, 2026. On September 3, 2026, a grand jury in Bridgeport returned an indictment charging each with two counts of money laundering conspiracy, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count.
The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of $4,184,295.22.
Ketan Kamdar, a citizen of India, appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Dave Vatti, pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment, and is released on a $1.5 million bond. Jheel Kamdar was arraigned on September 30, 2026, and is released on a $100,000 bond.
U.S. Attorney Sullivan stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Homeland Security Investigations; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rahul Kale, Konstantin Lantsman, and Stephanie T. Levick.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement toward identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
HSTF New Haven comprises agents and officers from the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Department of Transportation – Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security’s Office of Export Enforcement, and Connecticut State Police, with prosecutions led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
