India, March 19 -- A US court has sentenced 43-year-old Sital Singh to four years in prison for his role in a nationwide scam that defrauded elderly victims of millions of dollars through fraudulent gold purchases, federal authorities said.

The sentence was handed down by US District Judge Matthew T Schelp in St. Louis, Missouri. The court also ordered Singh to pay $6.6 million in restitution to victims who were targeted as part of a wider conspiracy involving both US-based operatives and overseas scammers.

Singh pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud along with four other accused - Dariona Lambert, 24; Zhamoniq Stevens, 24; Chintankumar Parekh, 52; and Mehulkumar Darji, 42. According to prosecutors, Lambert and ...