GAITHERSBURG, Md. — A 52-year-old man was been arrested after allegedly scamming a man out of $1 million in a gold bar scam.
The victim, a 74-year-old man from Bethesda, first reported to the police on July 17, after seeing a woman losing nearly $1 million in a similar scheme.
He told police he received an email saying a suspicious deposit was made in his bank account and the suspect instructed the victim to convert his money to gold bars to protect his assets.
10 times, between March and June, the victim purchased over $1.1 million in gold bars and arranged to have the gold picked up by the suspect's associates.
After making a final purchase of over $240,000 in gold bars, the victim saw the news and contacted police.
Police say they arranged a pick-up with the suspect, Vipul Thakkar, at the victim's house. A detective posing as the victim handed a package to Thakkar, who then got in a car and drove away.
Police stopped him and he was arrested.
Thakkar was taken to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit and charged with multiple counts of attempted theft.
He is being held without bond.
