A Gujarati woman living in the US has emerged as a key figure in a multi-state gold bar fraud in which scammers posing as federal agents would convince their victims to purchase gold bullion and hand it over for secure storage, only to cheat them out of it. The con left a man from Bradenton in Florida reeling under a staggering loss of $1.5 million (£1.25 mn approx.).
The swindle came to light after the police arrested 42-year-old Shweta Patel on May 9. This cunning con job began in Feb when two impostors, posing as federal agents, knocked on the victim’s door with a fake arrest warrant for alleged financial irregularities. They then called their “supervisor”, who spun a yarn about the victim’s potential to serve society better in other ways instead of being locked up.
Over the next month, this “supervisor” communicated with the victim daily, building rapport and trust, according to a tweet posted by Bradenton police. The scammer eventually tricked the victim into thinking he was part of a sting operation targeting social security fraud. The catch? He needed to cough up some serious “seed money” to carry out the operation.
Over several weeks, the con artists manipulated the victim into converting his retirement savings of approximately $1.5 million into gold bars. Then Shweta Patel, impersonating a police officer, allegedly went to the victim’s house, took the gold bars and disappeared.
Investigators traced one of the vehicles used during a drop-off to Patel, who was residing in Georgia and acting as a mule in the fraud. During questioning, Patel revealed she was merely a courier for a mysterious figure she referred to as “King”.
According to reports, Patel’s trail of deceit stretches further. She allegedly travelled to North Carolina recently to swindle $25,000 (£2.08 mn approx.) from an older woman in a similar scam.
Sources in investigative agencies say this type of crime is rampant among illegal immigrants from India. And it’s not just the Indians. Illegal immigrants from China are also running these types of elaborate scams.
