authorities said the scam would not be possible without the help of american frontmen, including kirit patel of tracy, california. the ftc says patel set up the american cop rations that collected the money from consumers and then sent at least $4 million onto india. >> it is clear that patel was involved in this scam. absolutely. >> reporter: patel has admitted he set up the american corporation, but denied knowing anything about the phone scam run out of india, or the missing money from american victims. >> no comment, sir. >> reporter: what do you mean? do you have an apology? >> i have no comment. i have retained an attorney. >> reporter: where is the money? >> i have no comment. >> reporter: the federal trade commission has now frozen patel's bank account. and a criminal investigation is under way. but much of the money has already gone to india, well beyond the reach of american law, where federal authorities say it may have ended up in the hands of an indian organized crime family. bill? >> big reminder that healthy skepticism can protect you sometimes. thanks to brian ross. >>> and c

authorities say the scam would not be possible without the help of american frontmen, including kirit patel of tracy, california. he is accused by the federal trade commission of setting up the american companies where victims were told to send their payments. patel claims he knows nothing about the phone scam run out of india. >> i have no comment, sir. >> reporter: what do you mean? do you have an apology? >> i have no comments. i have retained an attorney. i have no comments. >> reporter: where's the money? can you tell us that? >> i have no comment. >> reporter: the federal trade commission has frozen patel's bank account. but most of the money has gone to india, where there is little the u.s. can do to get it back or to stop the scam from continuing, diane. >> big heads up tonight. thank you, brian. and i know you'll have more of your reporting tonight on "nightline." be sure to watch. >>> still ahead here on "world news," the nation's top disease hunters racing to solve a mysterious outbreak and stop it in its tracks. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] purina one beyond. foo

authorities say the scam would not be possible without the help of american front men, including kirit patelacy, california. he's accused by the federal trade commission of setting up the american companies where victims were told to send their payments. patel claims he knows nothing about the phone scam run out of india. >> no comment, sir. >> do you have an apology. >> i have no comments. i have written my attorney. >> where is the money. can you tell us that? >> i have no comments. >> reporter: the federal trade commission has frozen patel's bank accounts and a criminal investigation is under way. much of the money has already gone to india well beyond the reach of american law where federal authorities say it may have ended up in the hands of an indian organized crime family. brian ross, abc news, new york. >> how scary is that? now there's talk about what laws can be, you know, crafted together to prevent some of this in terms of consumer protection here. i have one question i saw this story last night. are people so unaware of the finances they aren't entirely clear as to what they owe

authorities say the scam would not be possible without the help of american frontmen, including kirit patel. patel claims he knows nothing about the phone scam run out of india. do you have an apology? >> i have no comment. >> reporter: as to where the money went, patel's lawyer told us most of it has gone to people in india who are running the scam there. and that his client was unaware of the abusive tactics being used. the federal government says a criminal investigation is under way. >> you're going to have more on "nightline." >> absolutely. >> brian, thank you very much. >>> now, to the story of the texas man on trial for murder. he shot his neighbor in a dispute over a noisy birthday party. what makes this case really unusual is that the whole incident was caught on tape by the defendant himself. he says the video shows he is innocent. the prosecution says, not so fast. abc's ryan owens has that story. >> y'all just need to keep it down. >> we ain't got to keep down [ bleep ]. >> reporter: raul rodriguez should have known this dispute wasn't going to end well. the father of six is no