A Greenwood concrete contractor says a high-dollar gold play has turned into a financial sinkhole, leaving him out more than $1.5 million and dragging a local development fight into court. Josh Reel tells reporters he handed $1.53 million to a man who claimed he could source 150 kilos of gold, but the bullion never surfaced and Reel says he has yet to see a single dollar in profit. The fallout has stalled a proposed apartment project near U.S. 31 and Worthsville Road and triggered a civil lawsuit.
Suit Says Sellers Never Delivered
According to FOX59, Reel alleges he gave Robert Turner $1.53 million in 2026 to lock in a deal for 150 kilos of gold, and that Turner then sent roughly $840,000 to vendors who never delivered the metal. Reel also told the station he had previously steered more than $400,000 toward the same venture and has now filed a lawsuit in an effort to claw his money back. FOX59 reported that the company receiving the payment, along with local authorities, did not answer questions about where the gold actually went.
Federal Warnings And A Larger Pattern
Reel’s story fits into a larger pattern that federal officials have been flagging. Scammers increasingly push targets to convert savings into cash or physical bullion, then send couriers to scoop it up. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has warned that criminals instruct victims to buy precious metals and arrange in-person pickups, and its public advisories note aggregated losses tied to these schemes. National coverage has described multi-state call-center operations built around gold pitches and large combined losses reported by law enforcement, with IC3 and ABC News outlining those patterns and subsequent takedowns.
Business Fallout In Greenwood
Reel told reporters his concrete operation had been on a solid growth streak and that the missing cash hits far beyond his own wallet. “We stay very busy. We’ve been growing the past four to five years. Pretty steady,” he said. “$1.5 million is $1.5 million. My guys have to eat. We need equipment and keep us doing business,” according to FOX59. The dispute has slowed a planned apartment development off U.S. 31 near Worthsville Road that Reel’s company had targeted as part of a push into real estate.
What’s Next
Reel’s civil case is working its way through local court, with a hearing set for November, and the decision will determine whether he recovers any of the $1.53 million he says he lost. For now, the parties and authorities have offered little public clarity on what became of the promised gold, and the Greenwood fight joins a list of similar investor complaints that federal agencies and local prosecutors have been tracking.
