The latest arrest linked to gold bar scams in Montgomery County, Md. — some topping $1 million — indicates just how mobile the alleged fraudsters are.
Neel Patel, due in court Thursday afternoon on accusations he stole $331,818 in gold bars from a resident of the Leisure World community, was picked up at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago last month. He earlier had flown from Louisville to Northern Virginia, authorities said, before renting a Chrysler and driving it into Maryland to pick up the gold bars from the woman who had followed instructions to meet him in a Walgreens parking lot.
Like other victims, she had been duped by fraudsters — posing over the phone as government agents — into believing her bank holdings weren’t safe and that she should convert her money into to gold bars and hand them over for safekeeping.
After Patel left the Walgreens with the bars — five of them, weighing a total of about 11 pounds — Patel eventually made his way to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to return the Chrysler, according to the filings. Earlier men charged in the scams reported living as far away as California or New York. One said he had taken directions from an associate in India, another from a friend in China. When Patel was arrested at O’Hare, police said, he was about to board a flight to Ireland.
Patel’s attorney, Henry Shih, described his client’s travel as part of regular life.
Patel had lived in Kentucky because his girlfriend was there completing a master’s degree in social work, Shih said, and he was planning to move Illinois where his family lives. “The Ireland trip,” Shih added, “was a vacation with his brother.”
The attorney also noted that the allegations against his client, as stated by investigators in their charging document filed with the court, hardly match the actions of a criminal trying to cover his tracks. When Patel reserved a rental car from Hertz and a flight from American Airlines, according to the allegations, he provided his personal cellphone and email address.
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More about gold bar scams
How the scams work
Fraudsters pretend to be officials from the FBI, Justice Department, Treasury Department, Federal Trade Commission or other agencies. They persuade targets that their bank holdings aren’t safe and that they should liquidate into gold bars so they can transfer the bars over for safekeeping. The transfers often take place in parking lots and are cloaked in secrecy as victims are convinced criminals are closing in on them. The gold is never returned.
The FBI offers tips to help avoid such scams.
The federal government will never ask you to buy gold or other precious metals.
Avoid disclosing personal information or agree to meet with people you don’t know to deliver them gold bars or cash.
Avoid clicking on links or contacting telephone numbers in unsolicited pop-up windows, text messages and emails.
If you suspect you or someone you know is being targeted for fraud, contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. Those in Montgomery County and Maryland can find reporting agencies here.
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“He was not described as someone taking any pains to conceal his identity as a guilty person might do,” Shih said.
Montgomery County Police began seeing the cases more than a year ago. Since July, 2023, they say, at least six victims of gold bar swindles in the county have lost more than $5.1 million. In some cases, investigators have learned of the scams in progress, and said they have thwarted another $3.4 million worth of gold bars from being stolen.
While the frauds take place around the country, investigators believe Montgomery residents could be targeted because of the county’s relative wealth. The marks tend to be older, trusting and have saved up a lot of money. At least one recent victim — a 74-year-old Bethesda man who was swindled out of $1.1 million — also suffered from memory loss, police said.
In court filings, detectives have described the ruses as “government impostor scams,” whereby fraudsters pretend to be officials from the FBI, Justice Department, Treasury Department, Federal Trade Commission or other agencies. They convince targets that their bank holdings aren’t safe and that they should liquidate into gold bars so they can transfer the bars over for safekeeping. The transfers often take place in parking lots, make use of code words like “watermelon,” and are cloaked in secrecy as victims are convinced criminals are closing in on them. The gold is never returned.
Patel, the man picked up at O’Hare, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft and one count of theft. The 23-year-old has been held without bound in the Montgomery County jail since arriving this week from Illinois. He is scheduled to appear in Montgomery District court at 1 p.m. Thursday to have his bond conditions reviewed.