A naturalised American citizen, who allegedly defrauded the U.S. government of at least $600,000 and carried a bounty of $1,15,000, was arrested by the Punjab Police in Jalandhar, officials said on Sunday (September 6, 2026).
to evade the law.
He was arrested two days ago in a fraud case registered in Rama Mandi, police said.
Indian-origin fraudster arrested, says FBI Director Kash Patel During Bedi’s questioning, police learned that he had committed fraud in the U.S. and fled from there.
The case in Jalandhar involved allegedly duping a person on the pretext of helping him go abroad.
Wire fraud charges According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), he was indicted for wire fraud and was ordered to surrender his passport and remain in Washington state.
A U.S. district court issued a federal arrest warrant for Bedi on May 21 for violating conditions of supervision.
In a post on X, FBI Director Kash Patel said the agency is actively working to secure his return to the United States.
“Bedi was just arrested in India and was believed to have fled there sometime last year,” Mr.
Patel said.
Bedi operated a small grocery store in Tacoma, Washington, and swiped customers’ government benefits cards to give them cash instead of food under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), keeping half of the proceeds for himself, according to the FBI.
Most wanted fraudster “This is the 5th most wanted fraudster captured since the creation of the new list three months ago – and yet another high-value target captured overseas.
Subjects captured so far have been responsible for a combined over $2 billion in fraud and were on the run for almost 4,000 days collectively prior to arrest,” Mr.
Bedi is charged with a series of offences, including wire fraud and SNAP benefits fraud.
The FBI claimed that Bedi defrauded the U.S. government of at least $600,000 between March 2024 and June 2025.
