A Baltimore County man pleaded guilty Wednesday for targeting local elderly victims in a gold bar scam last year.
Vipul Thakkar, 53, pleaded guilty to charges including theft over $25,000 to $100,000 and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult between $25,000 to $100,000, among other charges, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office (MCSAO).
Thakkar faces up to 60 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 29.
Vipul J. Thakkar. Photo courtesy Montgomery County Police.
According to police at the time of arrest last year, a 74-year-old Bethesda man was targeted in a gold bar scam in which he purchased more than $1 million in gold. The 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.
10 separate times between March and June last 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 a news report after making a final purchase of more than $240,000 in gold bars, and he contacted police.
Last July, a police detective 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.
According to MCSAO, detectives determined that Thakkar also picked up $40,000 in cash from an 80-year-old victim in a shopping center parking lot near Leisure World in Silver Spring last July.
