Indian-American trio arrested for conning business owner in New Jersey

Viral Patel and Priyanka Patel from Jersey City, and Pratik Patel from Ramsey were each charged last week with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft

New York: Three Indian-Americans in the US state of New Jersey have been arrested for allegedly deceiving a business owner by charging him two hundred thousand dollars for a contract work that never got done.

Viral Patel and Priyanka Patel from Jersey City, and Pratik Patel from Ramsey were each charged last week with theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft, the Jersey City Times website reported.

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According to Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez, the three defendants, between the age groups of 33 to 38, were operating under the name Janvi Hotel Supply LLC, located at 23 Thorne Street in Jersey City.

The business has been described as a “scam” by three people on google reviews.

They were hired to perform contract work at a business owner’s three properties in March this year for which the latter was billed two hundred thousand dollars.

However, the work was never performed even though the business owner paid full amount to the Patels, Suarez said.

She did not identify the business owner or the nature of the work, according to the news report.

Viral and Priyanka, who are married according to public records, were arrested on December 20 at the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office in Secaucus and at a residence in Jersey City, respectively.

Pratik was arrested a day after at the County Prosecutor’s Office.

The three were then taken to the Hudson County Correctional Facility pending their first court appearances.