South Huntington man sentenced for debt-collecting scheme

A federal judge sentenced a South Huntington man Wednesday to 41 months in prison for helping manage a bogus debt-collecting operation that scammed more than $3 million from unwitting victims nationwide.

Kamal Zafar, 51, pleaded guilty last June to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in a scheme to have call center operators in India contact people in the United States and claim to be federal employees collecting a debt on behalf of the government.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Joan Azrack said Zafar was responsible for recruiting people to set up bank accounts for receipt of funds from victims of the scheme, who believed they were settling debts with the Internal Revenue Service.

“The defendant is responsible for the full loss of $3.2 million from over 30 victims, many of whom suffered substantial financial hardship as a result of the fraud,” Azrack said before issuing her sentence in Central Islip federal court. “This is a very serious crime.”

Zafar must pay $3.2 million in restitution as part of his plea agreement.

Zafar’s victims included a Missouri man who was scammed out of $70,000 from a memorial fund established after his wife and two daughters were killed in a traffic accident, and a 76-year-old woman who lost her retirement savings, prosecutors said following his 2019 arrest.

Victims were told that they would be arrested the next day if the debts were not immediately paid, prosecutors said. No victims spoke at the sentencing and prosecutors previously told Newsday that none lived on Long Island.

The scheme operated from January to September 2018, prosecutors said.

“There was a lot of pain and suffering in this case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kelly told Azrack in asking that she sentence Zafar to a prison term of 41 to 51 months.

“The victims suffered," Kelly said. "They were ultimately terrified, left penniless.”

Kelly said the funds were often transferred from the fraudulent bank accounts to banks in China and other countries, but in some instances were sent directly to Zafar.

Kelly noted that Zafar also pleaded guilty in state court in Brooklyn this year to participating in a second scheme, which Azrack later described as a medical billing scheme to defraud health care plans. 

Zafar’s defense attorney, Glenn Obedin, of Central Islip, asked the judge to sentence his client to home detention, but Azrack said participating in more than one crime shows “this was not a momentary lapse of judgment.”

“It’s Mr. Zafar’s sustained criminal conduct that has jeopardized his ability to remain free,” the judge said, also noting that Zafar was “blessed with a stable family and financial resources” before resorting to criminal activity.

Zafar, a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Pakistan in 1996, told Azrack he was a doctor in his native country and the son of a diplomat.

In seeking a lighter sentence, Zafar told the judge he was responsible for taking care of his aging parents and a wife and three children. Azrack acknowledged that Obedin submitted 24 letters of support for his client, many describing him as a family man who otherwise lived an honest life, but the judge was not swayed.

Obedin and Zafar, who is expected to begin serving his prison sentence June 1, declined additional comment outside the courtroom.

Ajay Sharma, of Mumbai, India, the leader and organizer of the fraud scheme, previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 78 months in prison. Five other co-defendants, including Zafar’s brother, Jamal Zafar, of Huntington, have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.