A Texas Democrat accused of setting up a fake social media account to post racist comments about himself in order to elicit sympathy is now being investigated for impersonating two other people, including a judge.
Taral Patel, 30, a former Biden White House appointee and challenger for county commissioner in Fort Bend County’s District 3, used the real name of District Judge Surendran Pattel on one of his accounts to communicate with another fictitious person under the name “Antonio Scalywag,” according to a July search warrant.
He is now being investigated for once again using a false identity in his plot to elicit sympathy, claiming that he and his family were the victims of vicious racist abuse online, it is claimed.
The latest arrest warrant accuses Patel of opening a third Facebook account, this time under the name “Jane Donnie,” and using the image of a Pennsylvania real estate agent as his profile picture without his knowledge.
He later confirmed to ABC13 that it was not his account.
Patel was arrested on June 12 and charged with identity fraud and making false statements about an identity on the internet following a lengthy investigation by the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office.
The investigation into Patel’s alleged online alter egos began last October, shortly after a lengthy Facebook post in which he claimed that he and his family were victims of a racist smear campaign by supporters of his opponent, incumbent Andy Meyers.
His post included a collage of about a dozen hate messages he claimed to have received, calling him vile names like “subhuman” and “monkey” and attacking his Hindu faith.
But his alleged plan began to unravel when Meyers recognized the unusual name Antonio Scalywag as the name of a man who had previously trolled him online and demanded an investigation into his opponent’s allegations.
Investigators concluded that the fake account had been set up by Patel, who charged him with third-degree internet identity fraud, a felony, and one count of false identity, a Class A misdemeanor.
He was taken into custody and released on bail.
In addition to his county aspirations, Patel’s campaign website lists numerous previous positions, including Fort Bend County Chief of Staff.
He says he has also worked for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in the Public Integrity Unit, as a governor’s deputy finance director, and as a parliamentary staffer for the Texas House of Representatives.
According to the website, Patel was appointed by President Biden to the White House Liaison Office to address issues related to housing, urban development, and disaster relief and resilience.
Prosecutors said Patel had not yet been charged in the initial indictments and that no new charges had been filed as a result of the search warrants.
The office is continuing its investigations into both cases.
Patel has not made any public statements about the arrest or new investigation.
His only posts on his X-page since his arrest have been about unrelated topics such as mosquito control and a warning about a highway construction site in July.
The Patel campaign team did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
