Indian man sentenced to 15.5 years in prison for gold scam in US, picked 16 gold bars from elderly victims

Syed M Makki, a 38-year-old Indian man in Illinois, has been sentenced to 15.5 years in prison without parole for taking part in gold scam targeting elderly victims. Gold scams are widespread in the US where scamsters convince senior citizens that they have to buy gold with their savings and hand that over to the government, as their assets are not safe in the bank. The scamsters often sell the gold to jewelry shops and leave no trail of the proceeds of the crime.United States District Judge Greg Kays also ordered Makki to pay $4,754,000 in restitution and ordered forfeiture of the gold bars, plus a money judgmentAccording to the Justice Department, Makki acted as a courier, where his role was limited to only picking up gold bullion and cash from victims throughout the country and delivering it to the co-conspirators. On March 25 and 26, 2024, Makki picked up 16 gold bars, weighing one kilogram apiece and worth more than $1 million, from victims in Colorado and Kansas City. On March 27, 2024, he transported the gold bars to Illinois to deliver them to co-conspirators when he was arrested.Scam starts with ‘malware’From 2023 through March 31, 2024, conspirators put malware on people’s computers with a phone number to call. When the victims called, they falsely represented themselves as ‘Microsoft’ employees, banking officials, government employees, and law enforcement officers. The conspirators convinced the victims, who were elderly, that their identities had been compromised and that their money was not safe in banks. All their victims ranged in age from 61 to 80.The scammers made the victims liquidate bank and retirement accounts and buy gold bullion in the form of gold bars or gold coins with the proceeds. When the gold was delivered to the victims’ houses, conspirators directed the victims to provide the gold for ‘safekeeping’ to a co-conspirator, like Makki.The scamsters used to ask the victims to place the gold and address it to the ‘Department of Justice’ in the name of a specific person — to minimize any suspicion from the victims. Makki and others picked up the gold or cash and then transported it across state lines to co-conspirators.