Colorado victims help police in sting operations, put California scammers behind bars

A 76-year-old Douglas County resident who was defrauded of more than $200,000 earlier this year helped authorities catch two men in a sting operation. These men were recently sentenced to prison.

The crime began with a pop-up alert allegedly coming from the woman’s iPad in March. The message told him to call a phone number. According to one claim, the person who answered the number pretended to be an “undercover agent” of law enforcement. Press release From the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

The “agent” told the woman that her identity had been stolen and that someone was writing fake checks from her bank accounts to pornography websites. The woman was instructed to transfer more than $200,000 to a new account and use the money to purchase gold bullion from a local store in Littleton. The woman did as instructed and personally delivered the gold bars to the “agent” in the parking lot of the Castle Pines business.

He wasn’t the only victim.

Douglas County’s successful operation

In May, the same sheriff’s office issued a “scam alert” after receiving multiple reports of residents being instructed to purchase gold bars and deliver them to suspects in a parking lot.

The Douglas County woman continued to receive messages from scammers. They demanded more gold bullion in exchange for solving problems they claimed were related to his bank accounts and identity.

In May, DCSO held a meeting between the victim and the scammers in a parking lot. The plan was called “Operation I Love Gold” by the ministry.

Two men arrived at the scene and approached the woman under the guise of buying gold bullion. Punit Punit, 30, and Anil Dhiman, 35, both immigrants from India, were then surrounded and arrested, according to the sheriff’s office.

Douglas County published records Since they were caught on YouTube.

Punit and Dhiman later pleaded guilty to attempted theft and conspiracy charges. Both were sentenced Oct. 25 to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.

The men were also ordered by the judge to pay for the victim’s losses.

“These defendants targeted and preyed on an older adult – not once, but twice – forever changing the victims’ lives,” 18th Judicial District Assistant District Attorney Sherri Giger said in the press release. he said. “Due to their selfish behavior, this victim and her husband will not be able to enjoy the retirement they worked their whole lives to build. Had Mr. Dhiman and Mr. Punit not been caught, I have no doubt they would have continued to target more vulnerable victims through this scheme.”

Investigators learned that both men lived in California and had traveled to Colorado as part of their criminal activity. They are suspected of similar crimes in California. It is believed that the suspect will be deported back to India after serving his sentences, according to the sheriff’s office.

2. Douglas County victim

DCSO handled another case that started the same month as the previously mentioned case. An 81-year-old woman purchased $429,000 in gold bullion in March and delivered them to a man driving a black SUV in a Littleton parking lot. However, the woman wrote down the license plate of the SUV.

Police tracked the vehicle to Illinois. There, state police arrested 36-year-old Syed Makki. Gold bars valued at $1.1 million belonging to the Douglas County victim and another victim in Kansas City were seized. Investigators identified additional victims across the country.

Makki was brought to Colorado in early April and booked into the Douglas County jail. On the day Punit and Dhiman were sentenced, Makki denied all charges, according to online court records. A trial is planned for April 2025.

A pain in Larimer County

The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office conducted an operation of its own. Also in March, an 85-year-old man and an 83-year-old woman received a pop-up message on their computers instructing them to contact a support services representative to resolve a technical issue.

Finally, a man came to their house and took $30,000 from them.

This man then instructed the couple to provide another $70,000 to resolve their problem. However, the couple’s attempts to withdraw this money from their accounts attracted the attention of bank officials and were rejected. The man then told the couple to buy gold bullion.

The couple then contacted the authorities.

Arashdeep Dhaliwal, 28, was arrested in April when he came to the couple’s home to collect gold bars. Like Punit and Dhimal, Dhaliwal came from California to victimize Coloradans.

Dhaliwal was sentenced Oct. 24 to 30 days in prison (to be served while on work leave), three years of supervised release, and repayment of $30,000 to the victim. Investigators will continue to search for victims in other areas while Dhaliwal remains on probation in Washington, according to Larimer County.

“It can often be difficult for victims of scams to come forward, feeling guilty or ashamed of falling for the scam. That’s exactly what scammers want. They isolate their victims and make them feel helpless. They scare people into giving money to scammers and keep them from reporting the crime,” LCSO Investigations Sgt. use psychological manipulation to deter,” Rita Servin said: Press release. “Identifying suspects in fraud cases is extremely difficult as they often originate from other states or operate internationally. I am grateful to the banks who initially expressed concern that this was fraud and to the investigators who intervened and arrested this man before he could take action. I am grateful to the victims to take further advantage of innocent people “I congratulate them for coming forward and reporting this situation.”

Detectives from both agencies asked citizens to never click on pop-up ads on their electronic devices, including mobile phones. They also suggested that monetary transactions be conducted in public places with surveillance systems or in special secure areas near law enforcement.