A Texas man admitted his role in a tech-support fraud that siphoned more than $1.2 million from mostly elderly victims and agreed to return the money while facing federal charges.

Chase Harris, 36, of Keller, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, a charge that carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison. He also agreed to forfeit the proceeds of the scheme and to make restitution totaling $1.2 million tied to roughly 25 known victims across the United States. The case paints a picture of coordinated fraud that mixed deception with money movement across borders.

Federal authorities say the government immediately recovered $282,376 in restitution as part of the resolution, funds that will be directed to compensate victims. Harris entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern and is slated for sentencing on October 29, 2026. The plea includes forfeiture and restitution obligations alongside criminal exposure.

“Chase Harris profited from a scheme that preyed on seniors by stoking and exploiting their fear,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “After his co-conspirators extracted money from their victims, Harris laundered that money and sent it to India. The plea filed this week, together with Harris’s restitution of over $1.2 million for victims, reflects this Office’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable among us.” That blunt warning from the U.S. Attorney underscores how aggressively prosecutors treated the case.

According to the charging documents and public court statements, the fraud ran from at least November 2023 through July 2024 and focused on elderly Americans. The scheme used fake pop-up warnings on victims’ computers to claim infections, then pushed scripted calls and threats to convince people they faced criminal exposure. On some occasions co-conspirators posed as federal agents and browbeat victims into paying for bogus IT services that were never delivered.

Victims were directed to send handwritten checks to various businesses, including entities tied to Harris: CSH Management LLC, C4H Management LLC, and S2J Consulting LLC. After collecting checks, Harris allegedly moved the bulk of the proceeds—more than $1.2 million—overseas to an India-based company run by a co-conspirator. Prosecutors say Harris kept a cut as his fee for processing and moving the money.

While discussing how lucrative the operation was, one of Harris’s co-conspirators told him, “We can make millions [i]n [a] [j]iffy.” That exchange was cited by investigators as evidence of intent and the organized nature of the scheme. The documents describe a simple, repeatable process: frighten, demand payment, collect checks, then launder the funds through corporate accounts and international transfers.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. This prosecution is being handled by the White Plains Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reyhan Watson and Timothy Deal in charge of the case. The plea includes both criminal admission and financial remediation aimed at returning money to victims.

“Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hudson Valley White Collar Crime Task Force and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in this investigation. Local and federal investigators teamed up to trace the checks, follow account flows, and identify the companies used to shield the proceeds.” That noted cooperation helped produce the recovered funds and set up the restitution plan for victims.

The matter serves as a reminder of how tech-enabled cons still target people who are least able to weather sudden financial loss. Prosecutors say the recovered restitution and the court-ordered forfeiture are meant to blunt the financial harm while the criminal process moves forward. With sentencing months away, victims and investigators will watch to see how the court balances punishment, recovery, and deterrence in a cross-border fraud case.