By GREGG MONTGOMERY
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
A federal grand jury in Indianapolis has indicted an Illinois man in a scam involving primarily elderly people, telling them to convert their savings and retirement accounts to cash or gold bars, and to provide those funds to law enforcement for “protection.”
The FBI is seeking help to find the fugitive from Illinois.
In one instance involving the fugitive and his co-conspirators, an elderly man handed over gold bars outside a Westfield department store.
For the man, the scam began when he received unsolicited phone calls, texts, and emails from a conspirator purporting to be “Agent Roy” of the FBI. The conspirator said the man’s computer had been hacked, and his personal information was at risk.
The conspirator also told the man that he was implicated in a drug crime.
“Agent Roy” told the man to withdraw $80,000 from retirement accounts and exchange it for gold bars, or the IRS would freeze the accounts. A conspirator acting as “Agent Roy” then met the man in a Meijer parking lot in Westfield to collect the gold bars.
But, that wasn’t the end.
The elderly man then was led to believe his money wasn’t safe, and he needed to give the “agents” more money. On Dec. 8, an unknown conspirator emailed the man with a document from “Officer Jason Roy.” The document, with a U.S. Department of Justice seal, told the man to withdraw funds and give them to the FBI as part of an operation.
“The document further stated ‘If … at any point of time you deny to follow our instructions or disclose this information to anyone all your accounts will be frozen,’” said a news release issued Monday from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mohammed
Enter Abdul Mohammed, 31, of Des Plaines, Ill. He’s the conspirator who remained at large Monday after the grand jury indictment in the U.S. federal court in Indianapolis.
The elderly man met Mohammed a few weeks later in the same Meijer parking lot. Mohammed hoped to collect another $45,000 in cash.
The release did not say if the man handed over any cash the second time around.
Zachary A. Myers, U.S. attorney for the federal court in Indianapolis, asks that anyone with information on the whereabouts of Mohammed to contact the FBI at (317) 595-4000 or FBI.gov/tips.
If convicted, Mohammed could face up to 60 years in federal prison.
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/scammers-got-people-to-convert-savings-into-cash-gold-bars-for-protection.