A Gujarati woman living in the US, Shweta Patel, scammed $1.5 million (around Rs 12.52 crore) from a Florida man by posing as a federal agent. She also swindled $25,000 from an older woman in North Carolina. The swindle came to light after the police arrested 42-year-old Patel on May 9.
Patel has emerged as a key figure in a multi-state gold bar fraud in which scammers posing as federal agents convince their victims to purchase gold bullion and hand it over for secure storage. Of course, the victim is cheated of the gold.
During questioning, Patel revealed she was merely a courier for a mysterious figure she referred to as “King”.
Sources in investigative agencies say this type of fraud is common among illegal immigrants from India and China.
Building rapport
The con left a man from Bradenton in Florida losing $1.5 million. The con job began in February when two people posing as federal agents approached the victim with a fake arrest warrant for alleged financial irregularities.
They then called their “supervisor” who built a rapport with the victim over a month, according to police sources. The fraudsters tricked the victim into thinking he was part of a sting operation targeting social security fraud. He was asked to cough up some “seed money” to carry out the operation.
Over several weeks, the con artists manipulated the victim into converting his retirement savings of approximately $1.5 million into gold bars. Then Shweta Patel, impersonating a police officer, allegedly went to the victim’s house, took the gold bars and disappeared.
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