MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — On Friday, 52-year-old Vipul Thakkar appeared virtually in Montgomery County District Court. He is charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a single victim.
Court documents say Thakkar had been stealing from a 74-year-old Bethesda man since March while claiming to be from the government. Thakkar would allegedly tell his victim to convert his money into gold bars and hand them over for safekeeping.
John McCarthy, State’s Attorney for Montgomery County District Court, says this isn’t the first time Montgomery County’s elderly community has been hit by this scam. So far, 20 victims have been identified in similar scams, and police are working to determine a connection.
“The amounts of money continue to grow,” he said. “The number of victims continues to grow.”
Prosecutors say before his arrest, Thakkar was allegedly about to pick up another $240,000 in gold bars from the victim, but the victim realized something was wrong after hearing on WUSA9 that another woman lost almost $1 million of her life savings in a similar scam.
He then called Montgomery County Police to report what was happening to him.
Thakkar was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit and charged with four counts of attempted theft and is currently being held without bond.
Authorities say even though an arrest has been made, it’ll be a challenge to recover the gold once it’s given away.
“It can be melted down and made into jewelry that can later be sold in a marketplace,” McCarthy explained. “It doesn’t have a serial number on it like a dollar bill or a check. It’s very hard to trace.”
Now authorities are putting the word out to be vigilant across the region.
“Don’t let your guard down,” he said. “If you’re in Prince George's County, D.C., Northern Virginia, you’re just as much at risk, particularly if you’re elderly and have some access to money.”