Fort Bend Politician Arrested Over Fake Facebook Account Accused of Impersonating Judge – Houston Public Media

A Fort Bend politician accused of creating fake Facebook accounts to attack his opponents is facing new charges.

According to the search warrant, prosecutors believe Taral Patel may also have been impersonating a judge on social media. Patel is the Democratic candidate for Fort Bend County Commissioner District 3.

He was arrested last month after accusations emerged that he used a fake Facebook account to attack opponents and post racist comments on his campaign website.

After his arrest, investigators obtained a warrant to search Patel’s phone. They, we found a Facebook account on the phone under the name Surendran Pattel, 240th District Court Judge for Fort Bend County. The account was associated with the email address [email protected].

Investigators questioned the judge, who stated that he did not create the account.

Court records show that Taral Patel’s criminal case was assigned to a magistrate’s court but was transferred to another court earlier this week.

The judge said KPRC – who was the first to report the new charges – that he was recusing himself from the investigation due to the latest discovery by investigators and because he knew Patel.

Court documents show Taral Patel has not yet been charged with impersonating a judge.

Prosecutors asked Facebook to provide information regarding the judge’s fake account.