A 37-year-old Indian citizen living in the United States on a student visa was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme that defrauded an elderly Vietnam veteran in Delaware County, Oklahoma, out of nearly $100,000 in gold. Venkateswara Chagamreddy was arrested by sheriff's deputies during an undercover sting at the victim's rural home after acting as a courier who physically collected gold from victims across multiple states.
According to KOKH, the scheme began when the veteran called a fraudulent phone number he believed belonged to Microsoft support in August 2025 after being told criminal activity had been detected on his computer. A fake federal officer then told him his identity had been stolen and linked to federal crimes, demanded more money, and instructed him to convert his money into gold, even providing a false badge number to appear legitimate. The victim ultimately handed over a package of gold to the fake officer before a family member intervened, recognized the scam, and helped him contact the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, which then arranged a sting for a second pickup.
U.S. District Judge John D. Russell handed down the sentence in Tulsa, months after an April 2026 federal jury trial convicted Chagamreddy of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Trial evidence showed that in the 48 hours before his arrest, Chagamreddy flew from Austin, Texas, to North Carolina to collect gold from an 87-year-old victim, then drove to Kansas to pick up 23 ounces of gold from a 75-year-old victim, before continuing on to Delaware County to target the Oklahoma veteran. Chagamreddy was also ordered to pay almost $100,000 in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
A Cross-Country Courier Run Aimed at an Isolated Veteran
Cellphone messages presented at trial revealed that Chagamreddy received real-time instructions from an unnamed co-conspirator, including navigational guidance to the victim's isolated home on a rural road and a photograph identifying the 79-year-old victim wearing a Vietnam veteran shirt, the Justice Department detailed. The photo evidence pointed to deliberate targeting based on the victim's veteran status and the remote location of his property.
When deputies arrested Chagamreddy during the undercover pickup at the victim's home, a search of his vehicle turned up $500 in cash, a cellphone, and 23 ounces of physical gold valued at nearly $100,000, according to The American Bazaar. The arrest capped a joint law enforcement response involving the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, alongside federal prosecutors including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles Greenough and Augustus Forster.
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Nassar said elder fraud schemes are “despicable, calculated attacks that prey on some of the most vulnerable and trusting members of our community,” per the Justice Department's statement. His office said it remains committed to holding foreign scammers accountable and to protecting older Americans from predatory fraud. Chagamreddy is expected to face removal proceedings to India following completion of his sentence.
Part of a Fast-Growing National Scam Trend
The case fits a broader pattern of gold courier imposter scams that federal data show are surging nationwide. Financial losses from these schemes grew from $219 million across 525 complaints in 2024 to $311.8 million across roughly 725 complaints in 2025, according to FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center data reported by Hoodline. Total nationwide elder fraud losses reached approximately $7.75 billion in 2025 across more than 201,000 complaints, a 59% jump from the prior year, the same FBI data shows.
The pattern echoes a similar case out of Austin, Texas, where a 22-year-old courier was sentenced in November 2025 to more than eight years in prison and ordered to pay $2.51 million in restitution after pleading guilty to money laundering conspiracy in a comparable government-imposter gold scheme, Hoodline's earlier reporting noted. In Oklahoma specifically, reports may be assigned to an Adult Protective Services specialist or referred to another organization, according to the Oklahoma Adult Protective Services page.
Where Victims and Families Can Get Help
The U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime maintains the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311 to help adults 60 and older report government imposter and tech-support scams directly to federal and local law enforcement. In this case, it was a family member's intervention after the victim disclosed a second demand for money that proved decisive, prompting him to recognize the scam and report it to deputies before further loss occurred.
