A New York man is facing charges in Massachusetts after allegedly taking part in a plot to scam a 72-year-old Newton woman out of nearly half a million dollars.
The Middlesex County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday that 23-year-old Vishal Kumar of Queens had been arraigned on charges of extortion, larceny over $250 from a person over 60 and conspiracy.
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The victim received a call on Dec. 4 from someone claiming to be an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, prosecutors said. She was told she was responsible for $2 million in 22 accounts someone had opened in her name, which the caller said was being used in illegal drug transactions.
"When the victim told the 'agents' that she had not opened the accounts, she was told that to stop any identity theft, she would have to transfer all her assets to the United States Treasury and that she would be given Treasury checks to secure those assets," the district attorney's office wrote in a press release.
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The scammers threatened the woman with arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation if she didn't cooperate, prosecutors said.
A different caller then contacted her, claiming to be her case manager with the U.S. Treasury and telling her to transfer her money to the department by buying gold bars, which couriers would pick up "at times and locations specified by the caller," according to the district attorney's office. She was told that after the transactions, her Social Security number would be changed.
The woman liquidated money from her retirement account to buy the gold bars, which she delivered. She also wired money to a bank account. In total, she lost over $480,000, authorities said.
The woman was told that her gold would be secured by Treasury checks and was sent images of them, which investigators later confirmed were counterfeit.
After the woman's family learned about the situation, they reported it to law enforcement, which conducted a sting operation involving an undercover officer posing as the victim.
Newton police and FBI special agents arrested Kumar after prosecutors say he confirmed a code word the victim was given and took possession of the package delivered by the undercover officer.
"This elaborate scheme illustrates several common aspects of these financial scams. The defendant and his alleged co-conspirators used multiple points of contact to build trust, they posed as official government agents, assigned a 'case worker' in an effort to appear helpful to the victim and even created fake documents to serve as receipts. Additionally, the perpetrators sought to strike fear in the victim, using the threat of criminal prosecution to pressure her into making huge financial payments," Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement. "These scams thrive in secrecy. Fortunately, in this case, the victim and her family were able to enlist the help of law enforcement within a fairly short period of time which put a stop to this exploitation but not before the victim suffered a staggering loss of nearly half a million dollars."
A grand jury indicted Kumar on Feb. 26. Ryan's office said he was held in lieu of $500,000 cash bail after being arraigned.
Kumar is due back in court April 2. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
