Man with homes in California and Lacey, Washington pleads guilty to smuggling Indian Nationals across northern border

Seattle –A 49-year-old resident of Elk Grove, California, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to Conspiracy to Transport and Harbor Certain Aliens for Profit and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Rajinder Pal Singh, aka Jaspal Gill, admits that he took in more than $500,000 as a key member of a smuggling ring bringing hundreds of Indian Nationals across the border from Canada and then to locations in the mid-west and beyond. Sentencing before U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour is scheduled for May 9, 2023.

According to records filed in the case, as early as July 2018, Singh and his coconspirators used the ride share app Uber to transport people who had illegally crossed the border from Canada to the Seattle area. Those records detail how trips beginning near the border in the early hours of the morning, would be split between different rides. For example, one Uber trip would be from the border to Sea-Tac airport, and then minutes later the second Uber trip would be from a nearby airport hotel to an address in Lacey, Washington, owned by Singh’s spouse. All told, from mid-2018 to May 2022, Singh arranged more than 600 trips involving the transportation of Indian Nationals who had been illegally smuggled into the U.S.

Once the non-citizens had been smuggled into the U.S., Singh coordinated with other coconspirators who, using one-way vehicle rentals, would transport these individuals to their ultimate destinations outside Washington State. The organization’s fee for their smuggling services was as much as $11,000 per person.

Singh and his coconspirators used sophisticated means to launder the organization’s illicit proceeds. For example, on one instance, Singh and his coconspirators arranged for smuggling fees to be sent via Hawala from India to New York. Once the smuggling fee was received in cash from the New York Hawala, these funds were converted into a check, mailed to a coconspirator in Kentucky, and then were washed through multiple financial accounts. In the plea agreement, Singh admitted that the purpose of this money movement was to obscure the illicit nature of these funds, i.e., money laundering.

The smuggling scheme has been underway since at least 2018. It slowed during the pandemic, when Canada was not admitting non-citizens. However as pandemic restrictions were lifted, the smuggling scheme became active again. In all, the investigation estimates that between July 2018, and April 2022, the 17 Uber accounts tied to this smuggling ring ran up more than $80,000 in charges.

In addition to the search of the home in Lacey, law enforcement searched two of Singh’s residences in California. During the search of one of his homes in Elk Grove, California, investigators found about $45,000 in cash as well as counterfeit identity documents. They also found copies of falsified documents that had been submitted to immigration judges in Washington during bond hearings for non-citizens who had been smuggled into the United States by Singh and his coconspirators, but who had been arrested by immigration authorities after illegally crossing the border.

Conspiracy to Transport and Harbor Illegal Aliens for Profit and Conspiracy to Launder Money are both punishable by up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Singh has agreed to forfeit cash and other personal property seized during the search of his residences, as well as a money judgement of $500,000 which represents proceeds he obtained from his criminal scheme.

Both sides have agreed to recommend that Singh serve 45 months in prison. Singh is not legally present in the United States and will likely be deported following his prison term. The actual sentence will be determined by Judge Coughenour after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The investigation is being led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joe Silvio.