An Owings Mills man, aged 52, has found himself in the grips of the law, arrested on charges stemming from his alleged involvement in a series of gold bar scams targeting the elderly, Montgomery County Department of Police reports.
One victim, a 74-year-old man from Bethesda, informed authorities on July 17 that he feared he had been duped into buying and giving away over $1.1 million in gold bars after an email had warned him of a suspicious deposit made in his account, prompting him to convert his savings into gold for the sake of protecting his assets, this act of contacting the police was spurred by a local news segment that highlighted a similar scam where another victim lost nearly $1 million.
According to police records, from March through June 2024, the victim had made a series of ten purchases to obtain the significant stockpile of gold that was eventually handed over to what he thought were just messengers for the scammer’s cadre.
The sting that led to the arrest unfolded on July 24 when a Montgomery County detective, masquerading as the potential victim, set up a meet at the victim’s home to hand over yet another package of gold, Vipul J. Thakkar, the suspect, took the package and was detained by officers shortly after he drove from the scene, the arrest and charges were later detailed by the Montgomery County Department of Police in their report.
Thakkar is currently being held without bond at Montgomery County Central Processing Unit, facing multiple counts of attempted theft, as police work to uncover the full extent of the fraudulent scheme that preyed on concerns of financial security among the elderly.
