ROCKVILLE, Md. — A man confessed to Maryland district court to stealing over $200,000 from a Montgomery County man in a gold bar scam that authorities said was part of an international crime ring.
Ravinkle Mathon, 26, pleaded guilty to attempted theft and conspiracy to commit theft. Mathan faces a maximum of 40 years in prison and up to $50,000 in fines.
Mathan had convinced an older man over WhatsApp to exchange his life savings of $229,848 in exchange for three 1-kilo gold bars and hand the gold over to him. Mathan pretended to be a federal agent while on the phone with the victim.
Montgomery County Police found out about the scam and arrested Mathan after he picked up the valuable gold bars from the victim's house.
Mathan told authorities when he was arrested in May that he had met a man in New Jersey who asked him to pick up the gold bars. While the suspect lives in Rockville, he told police that he only arrived in the United States a few weeks earlier from Germany to visit family.
Law enforcement said they believed that this gold bar scam is part of a reoccurring organized crime ring.
"The scam is believed to be part of an international organized crime ring," Montgomery County State Attorney's Office said on Wednesday. "Similar gold bar scams have been reported here in Montgomery County and across the United States."
In recent months, these scams have left older Montgomery County residents particularly vulnerable.
On Friday, a California man was convicted of stealing $800,000 from a Silver Spring woman in a gold bar scam.
In August, Montgomery County Police said that seven victims had been identified in these scams, losing a collective $6.3 million worth of gold bars.
Sentencing for Mathon has been scheduled for Dec. 11.
"These scams target an older population of individuals," Montgomery County Police said in their arrest report from May. "Couriers know about the crime they are participating in which is why they are willing to travel great distances to pick up packages.
