Behind US gold bar scam, a smuggling racket

AHMEDABAD: The last couple of months have seen nine Indians – eight of them Gujaratis – arrested in the US for swindling elderly people of their wealth. The latest case involving a 21-year-old accused has unveiled a gold smuggling angle.
Tejash Patel, a Chicago resident who claimed before US law officers to be a green card holder, was arrested on May 30 for trying to cheat a 78-year-old man from Florida.Patel’s phone records revealed he was acting on behalf of his master named “Rocky”. This isn’t the only gold-related crime Patel is involved in. In Jan this year, just two months after his arrival in the US, he brought gold worth US$ 400,000 to India for his sister’s marriage.
According to the case’s legal documents, the victim reported the fraud to the Martin County sheriff’s office on May 30 saying he had received a call from a man identifying himself as federal agent Brian Alba telling him that he faced arrest as his account had been used for fraudulent activities. To ‘save himself and to help law agencies’, the elderly man was asked to purchase gold bars from the cash he had and hand it over to Alba. The victim bought the gold and as instructed, wrapped it as a gift. A man arrived home in a sedan on May 24 to collect the package. As the victim continued to get phone calls, he approached the sheriff’s office.
On May 31, a team from the sheriff’s office met the victim at his home from where they made him call Alba. They found that Alba spoke with an Indian accent and gave the victim a particular location near Jensen Beach in Florida. A trap was laid where the victim was to give ‘gold’ worth US$200,000 to Alba’s driver.
Officers placed weights in a gift-wrapped package and waited for the man. A blue car rolled in driven by an Indian man — Patel — who was on a call, seemingly taking instructions possibly from Alba. Patel was intercepted as he drove away with the package. His driver’s licence revealed his identity. Patel allegedly tried to give wrong answers saying the package was his own, but during initial questioning, told cops that he had picked up the package for his friend but did not name the friend.
Crucial to the case, the conversation between him and the officer documented by the sheriff’s office shows that in Jan too, Patel had duped another elderly US citizen out of gold, which he had brought to India for his sister’s marriage.
Patel told cops that he has lived in Chicago with his family since his arrival in America in Oct 2023 from India. He said he is a green card holder, a claim which is being ascertained.
Patel was placed under arrest as there is probable cause to believe he is in violation of law. Patel knowingly obtained the property of another with the intent to permanently deprive him of the right or benefit from it, the legal document says.