An Indian national , Banmeet Singh pleaded guilty today to selling controlled substances on dark web marketplaces and agreed to forfeit $150 million. According to court documents, Singh, 40, of India, created vendor marketing sites on dark web marketplaces, such as Silk Road, Alpha Bay, Hansa, and others, to sell controlled substances, including fentanyl, LSD, ecstasy, Xanax, Ketamine, and Tramadol. Customers ordered controlled substances from Singh using the vendor sites and by paying with cryptocurrency. Singh then personally shipped or arranged the shipment of controlled substances from Europe to the United States through U.S. mail or other shipping services.
Frommid-2012 through July 2017, Singh controlled at least eight distribution cells within the United States including cells located in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, and Washington, among other locations. Individuals in those distribution cells received drug shipments from overseas and then re-packaged and re-shipped the drugs to locations in all 50 states, Canada, England,
Over the course of the conspiracy, the Singh drug organization moved hundreds of kilograms of controlled substances throughout the United States and established a multimillion-dollar drug enterprise which laundered millions of dollars of drug proceeds into cryptocurrency accounts, which ultimately became worth approximately $150 million.
In April 2019, Singh was arrested in London, and the United States secured his extradition in 2023.
Singh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces an agreed upon sentence of eight years in prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jeffrey Newman Esq. and members of his firm represent whistleblowers under the False Claims Act and SEC, CFTC and FINCEN whistleblower programs. Persons providing original information to these agencies through counsel may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of a successful recovery made by the SEC, CFTC OR FINCEN and the names and identification of the whistleblowers are kept confidential. His firm also represents whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases relating to Medicare of Medicaid. Attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 617-823-3217
