OWINGS MILLS, Md. — A Maryland man is facing charges after police say he pretended to be a government worker in order to scam hundreds of thousands in gold bars from a 74-year-old man. The victim contacted police after seeing reports of a similar scam on WUSA9.
The Montgomery County Police Department said 52-year-old Vipul J. Thakkar was arrested on Wednesday after arranging plans to pick up another $240,000 in gold bars.
Thakkar is accused of stealing more than $1 million from the man between March 29 and his arrest on July 24.
According to court documents obtained by WUSA9, the victim received a letter claiming to be from the Federal Trade Commission saying that a suspicious deposit of $1,499 had been made into his bank account.
"The letter indicated that the FTC was filing a lawsuit, and [the victim] was entitled to receive $90,000," the court document reads. An attorney named "Mike Rodgers" was listed on the letter, which instructed the victim to contact him via a phone number to resolve the matter.
After calling "Mike Rodgers" the man was directed to convert his assets into gold at a local coin store.
"[The victim] reported going to the local gold store approximately nine times and converting over $1 million US dollars into gold bars," court documents read. "Following each purchase, 'Rodgers' arranged to have the gold picked up the same day by individuals 'Rodgers' identified as his 'associates.'"
On July 12, the man returned to the local coin store to purchase $246,500 worth of gold bars. However, while waiting for the order to be processed, the victim saw a report by WUSA9's Leslie Moreno about a Montgomery County woman being the victim of another gold bar scam. The 82-year-old woman was scammed out of almost $1 million of her life savings.
After seeing our report, the man printed out a copy of the digital article and, concerned he was being scammed, contacted MCPD.
Investigators went to the man's home and noted he displayed signs of memory loss and other vulnerabilities, which the man acknowledged to detectives.
MCPD worked with the victim to communicate with "Mike Rodgers" in order to set up the next pick-up. According to the court documents, Thakkar arrived at the planned date and location and an MCPD detective posed as the victim to complete the handoff. Investigators say the money was placed in the back of Thakkar's car after he gave a previously discussed passcode.
Shortly after leaving, Thakkar was arrested. During an interview with detectives, court documents say Thakkar admitted he knew he was picking up gold from the victim and indicated he would get 2% of the value.
"During the interview, it became apparent that Thakkar had engaged in this activity previously, and he admitted to picking up gold and cash, as recently as last week," the court documents read.
Officials say the interview leads them to believe there may be more victims in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia.
Investigators say all of the people Thakkar admitted to taking gold from have been elderly men and women.
Thakkar was taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit and charged with multiple counts of attempted theft.
He was in court Friday. He was ordered held without bond. His next hearing is Sept. 9.