A Rochester man reported losing about $340,000 in gold bars and Bitcoin after someone claiming to be a federal agent told him the assets were urgently needed to help stop the Russians, according to Newport Dispatch. The report said the victim contacted Rochester police on May 26, 2026.
The case moved into court this week after investigators arrested Amritpal Singh in New York and returned him to Massachusetts, the outlet reported. Singh was arraigned in Taunton District Court on September 17, 2026, on fraud-related charges and was also held as a fugitive from justice on an outstanding warrant from another state, according to the report. The allegations have not been resolved in court.
How the alleged handoff unfolded
According to the report, the victim traveled to Raynham, Massachusetts, for an in-person exchange with a person posing as a federal agent. Rochester Detective Paul Douglas and Raynham Detective Patrick Leahy investigated the case, while license-plate-reader data and surveillance video were used to trace the suspect's movements into New York, Newport Dispatch reported.
The report said investigators later obtained a search warrant in New York and worked with other law-enforcement agencies to locate Singh. It did not establish whether any of the victim's gold or Bitcoin had been recovered.
A documented courier-scam method
The alleged use of a supposed federal identity and an in-person courier exchange resembles a method described in a FBI Boston advisory. The bureau warned that scammers may give victims a code, password or serial number so a courier's pickup appears official.
FBI Boston said it documented 103 incidents involving couriers collecting illicit cash or gold bars from 2023 through May 2025. The reported losses in those incidents totaled $26,024,691. Those figures describe the FBI's documented regional cases and do not establish that the Rochester investigation is connected to any of them.
What remains unknown
The available report does not say whether Singh has entered a plea, whether additional charges will be filed, or whether federal authorities will bring a separate case. It also does not establish the identity of anyone else who may have been involved or confirm that the Rochester allegations are part of a larger organization.
The FBI's warning offers a broader lesson relevant to the reported allegations: a code word, serial number or official-sounding identity does not verify a request to surrender valuables. The agency's documented figures show that courier schemes involving cash and gold have caused substantial losses, but each case still requires separate evidence and court findings.
