The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced the capture of six people on its Most Wanted Fraudsters list, highlighting an expanding international effort to track suspects accused of large-scale financial crimes.
FBI Director Kash Patel disclosed the arrests in statements published on Sunday, saying the fugitives were apprehended across four continents after spending a combined period of more than 4,000 days on the run.
The cases linked to the six suspects involve alleged fraud exceeding $2bn, according to Patel, who said the arrests demonstrated the agency’s determination to pursue suspects beyond US borders.
The six individuals named were Manjit Singh Bedi, Elaine Agene Esco, Khalid Ahmed Satary, Herbert Leon Kimble, Sahid Abdullahi Ereg and Emylee Thai.
Patel said the suspects had apparently believed that leaving the United States would shield them from prosecution, but the FBI continued working with international law enforcement partners to locate them.
In a separate development, the FBI director said Operation Blackout, an initiative targeting international scam networks, had resulted in seizures worth nearly $17bn, hundreds of arrests and the rescue of thousands of trafficked workers.
He added that authorities had warned more than 10,000 Americans about suspected fraud before they lost money, helping to prevent an estimated $670m in financial losses.
The operation focuses on criminal networks accused of running scam centres, exploiting vulnerable people and targeting victims through online fraud schemes. Authorities have also worked to disrupt the digital infrastructure and financial systems used by such operations.
Patel said the campaign was aimed not only at arresting suspects but also at dismantling the networks behind the alleged crimes, disrupting their finances and protecting potential victims.
The latest announcement underscores the cross-border nature of financial fraud and the growing role of international cooperation in investigating suspects who move between countries to evade law enforcement.
However, the allegations against individual suspects remain subject to the relevant legal processes, and the reported seizures and prevented losses relate to the broader operation rather than necessarily to the six fugitives alone.