Internet Fraud Casebook

Chapter 6. Dangerous Diet

NANCY E. JONES

Anoop Dugar lived at 23 Crawford Gardens in the small Springdale suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was a quiet, polite, and considerate child who grew up attending the local public schools. When Anoop was in elementary school he excelled in writing, entering and winning several contests. He also entered read-a-thons for charity events and won those. In his middle-school days he was the winner of several local and national spelling bees. His parents traced their roots to India and were proud of him and his older sister. Anoop was devoted to academics and steered clear of physical activity. He was an avid reader who spent huge amounts of time alone. When he graduated from high school he was significantly overweight and had been teased incessantly because of his size. Following graduation, he convinced his parents to allow him to live in the basement of their home and was employed as a night auditor for local hotel chains. His sister became a reporter for CNN News. Much of his free time was spent watching various Pittsburgh athletic teams on television and, on the rare occasions when he was seen in public, he usually wore clothing that supported Pittsburgh teams. The houses on Crawford Gardens were well-maintained family homes. Neighbors came and went and saw very little of Anoop. Residents did not have the faintest idea that the soft-spoken son of Amal and Charu Dugar was turning to a life of crime. In fact, he was about to be exposed as ...