A Rochester resident lost $30,000 after a caller claimed the victim was under criminal investigation and needed to hand over money to clear their name, according to charges filed in Olmsted County.
Two Illinois men, 39-year-old Hemendrasinh Pravinsinh Dabi and 27-year-old Kiranbhai Kanubhai Vasava, were arraigned this week on felony charges connected to the case, according to KROC-AM.
Each faces one count of aiding and abetting theft by swindle and one count of aiding and abetting attempted theft by swindle. Conditional bail for both men was set at $25,000.
After the victim gave $30,000 to an unknown person, the same phone number allegedly contacted the victim again and demanded a second delivery, this time 10 one-ounce gold bars.
The Victim Was Told Money Would Clear Their Name
According to the criminal complaints cited by KROC, a Rochester police officer was dispatched Monday to investigate a report of theft by false representation.
The victim told police they had been contacted by someone claiming the victim was under investigation for a crime. The caller said money needed to be transferred to clear the victim’s name.
The victim then handed over a box containing $30,000 in cash to a man described as about 30 years old, with longer, unkempt hair, driving a smaller white vehicle, according to the complaint.
The same number later contacted the victim again. This time, the caller told the victim to arrange a delivery of 10 one-ounce gold bars at a location in northwest Rochester on June 23.
Police Replaced The Gold With A Tracker
An officer was with the victim during a phone conversation with the caller, KROC reported. The caller allegedly instructed the victim to deliver the gold bars to whoever arrived for the meeting.
Instead of real gold, police prepared a package with fake gold bars and a GPS tracking device. FOX 9 reported that officers obtained a search warrant to carry out the plan.
Surveillance officers later saw a white SUV with Illinois plates circling the parking lot at 2711 Commerce Drive NW in Rochester. A man later identified as Vasava got out of the vehicle, met the victim, gave the password, and took the package, according to FOX 9.
Officers followed the SUV as it left the area. The vehicle went through Rochester, exited the city on Highway 52, then headed east on I-90 before law enforcement stopped it near the Eyota exit, according to KROC.
Officers Found $50,000 In Cash, But Not The Fake Gold Package
The criminal complaint says Vasava was driving the SUV and Dabi was in the passenger seat when it was stopped.
Officers searched the vehicle and found $50,000 in cash in a backpack on the rear seat, along with several cell phones, bank checks with Vasava’s name, and pieces of torn bubble wrap similar to the packaging used with the fake gold bars.
The package containing the fake bars and GPS tracker was not found in the SUV. Police later located the damaged GPS device torn apart on the side of Highway 52 along the route the vehicle had taken after leaving Rochester.
Dabi told an investigator he had received a call from India about the package but claimed he knew nothing about it, saying he and his friend were only told to pick up a box, according to the complaint cited by KROC. Vasava also denied knowing what was happening, FOX 9 reported.
Police Say The Case May Connect To A Wisconsin Victim
Court documents say paperwork found with the $50,000 in cash linked the money to a bank in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Rochester police contacted law enforcement there and were told that a person had been swindled out of $50,000 in cash under similar circumstances earlier the same day, according to KROC.
The complaint states that Vasava was identified through surveillance video as the person who met with the Wisconsin victim.
No real agency tells someone to clear their name by handing over cash, gold bars, or valuables to a stranger. The FTC says it will never tell people to transfer money to “protect it,” withdraw cash, buy gold, or give it to someone.