Kentucky sheriff, FBI arrest two men after allegedly scamming woman for $247K, gold bars
Two college students from Ohio were arrested in Bourbon County recently after they scammed an elderly woman for hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office and court documents.
The scam was reported to the sheriff’s office on June 4. According to the sheriff’s office, the woman told officials she had been contacted by email and phone by people portraying IRS agents and representatives from her financial organization claiming her account had been hacked.
The woman went to the bank and withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars, lying about home remodeling plans, according to court documents. The scammers convinced the woman to deposit $262,435.36 at a bitcoin location, according to the sheriff’s office and court documents.
Additionally the scammers convinced the woman to wire more money to New York to purchase gold bars, valued at $247,756.21, according to the sheriff’s office and court documents.
The scammers convinced the woman to send the gold bars to her home in Bourbon County, where the scammers would make arrangements to pick them up, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office contacted the FBI due to the nature of the scam. The sheriff’s office said authorities listened to multiple phone conversations from the scammers laying out the details of the scheme.
When the scammers had confirmation of the package’s arrival, they made plans to take the gold bars at the woman’s home. The sheriff’s office said they and the FBI intercepted two individuals, 26-year-old Mayurkumar Patel and 29-year-old Akshay Priyadarshi, and took them into custody.
Patel and Priyadarshi are college students from Beaver Creek, Ohio, in the United States on a school visa, according to the sheriff’s office. They are originally from India.
Patel and Priyadarshi admitted to committing the same scam previously, stealing $35,000 in cash from a woman in Ohio, according to court documents. The Bourbon County woman was in the middle of a second transaction when she contacted the sheriff’s office.
Both were charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception over $10,000 and are being held at the Bourbon County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond, according to the sheriff’s office.
The FBI told the sheriff’s office this scam has been happening across the country, including other parts of Kentucky and Los Angeles, according to court documents. The sheriff’s office encouraged people suspicious of scams to contact them for confirmation.
“The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office will not call and say you have a warrant for your arrest along with the IRS or the FBI,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “If you must send money to receive a prize or cash, it’s a scam. Time is on your side, so please if not sure hang up and contact your law enforcement or your bank and check yourself if uncertain.”
Recently, the Kentucky Court of Justice urged people to be aware of scams involving fake arrest warrants that are increasing in sophistication, including phone numbers and forged signatures.
According to a press release from the Administrative Office of the Courts, the fraudulent warrants are demanding payment to avoid arrest. Some include the Kentucky Court of Justice seal, a case number and a list of charges such as failure to appear and missed jury duty.
“Scammers may even fake a phone number on caller ID so that the call appears to be from a court facility or another government agency,” the release said. “A valid arrest warrant would not be served by phone, text or email.”
