Yesterday, a Connecticut-based property reseller named William Dawson was arrested for fraudulent acquisition of a significant volume of gold coins.
Dawson, 51, is indicted with one count of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud, according to the justive.gov. The indictment alleges that during December 2022, Dawson procured 170 Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coins, valued at about $290,000, from an operator of a Massachusetts-based home cleanout business who discovered the coins while cleaning an estate in Shrewsbury.
Allegedly, an agreement was struck for Dawson to procure 120 gold coins from the operator. Dawson, however, fraudulently issued checks totalling $198,800 for the coins in January 2023, despite his bank account holding considerably less. Dawson then falsely claimed to the operator that his car had been broken into and the coins stolen.
Following his false claim, Dawson allegedly sold a portion of the coins at a pawn shop in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in exchange for $80,442. Further, he allegedly continued to sell the remaining coins at a pawn shop in Cranston, generating an additional $35,094.
Joshua S. Levy, Acting United States Attorney, and Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Boston Field Office, are overseeing this case. The apprehension of Dawson involved the collaboration of several local law enforcement organizations, including the Milford Police Department and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. The onus of prosecuting this case falls to Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O’Shea.
