Police said an arrest was made after a 74-year-old Bethesda man was targeted in a gold bar scam in which he purchased more than $1 million in gold.
Vipul J. Thakkar, 52, of Owings Mills in Baltimore County was arrested Wednesday, according to the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD).
According to police, last week the Bethesda man contacted MCPD to report he believed he was scammed after he saw a local news report about a woman losing almost $1 million in a gold bar scam.
Police last week announced an arrest after an 82-year-old Silver Spring woman was scammed out of more than $900,000 in gold bars.
According to police, the Bethesda man reported he got an email saying a suspicious deposit was made into his bank account, and an unknown suspect told him to convert his money into gold in order to protect his assets.
Vipul J. Thakkar. Photo courtesy MCPD.
10 separate times between March and June this year, the man bought a total of more than $1.1 million in gold bars and arranged to have it picked up by the suspect’s associates.
He saw the news report after making a final purchase of more than $240,000 in gold bars, and he contacted police.
A police detective communicated with the suspect on Wednesday this week and arranged a pick-up at the victim’s home. A detective posed as the victim and gave a package to Thakkar. Thakkar then got in a car and drove away, until he was stopped by officers and arrested.
Thakkar is charged with multiple counts of attempted theft, according to police, and he is being held without bond.
