Bethesda man conned into buying $1.1 million in gold bars

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. ( DC News Now ) — An Owings Mills man was arrested in connection with “government-imposter related gold bar scams,” police in Montgomery County said Thursday.

On July 17, a 74-year-old Bethesda man reached out to the Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) Financial Crimes Section to report he had been swindled after seeing a local news report of a woman losing nearly $1 million in a gold bar scam .

The man said he received an email stating that a suspicious deposit was made into his bank account. The person told him to turn his money into gold to protect his assets.

On 10 separate occasions between March and June, the man purchased over $1.1 million in gold bars and arranged to have the gold picked up by the suspect’s associates, according to MCPD .

After making a final purchase of over $240,000, the man saw the news report and contacted police.

On Wednesday, a detective posed as the man and arranged a pick-up with the suspect, 52-year-old Vipul J. Thakkar, of Owings Mills. The detective handed him a package, then he got into a car and drove away.

Officers stopped Thakkar and arrested him.

He was taken to Montgomery County’s Central Processing Unit and charged with multiple counts of attempted theft. He is being held without bond.

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