Courier Involved In Gold Bar Scam Targeting Maryland Elder Arrested Boarding Flight To Ireland

Neel Patel, of Carol Stream, joined California native Wenhui Sun behind bars after a woman was bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of the scheme, according to police.

In March, a woman advised investigators that she had been contacted by a fraudster alleging to be with Office of the Inspector General – Federal Trade Commission.

She was instructed that she was the victim of identity theft that launched a federal investigation involving drugs and money laundering.

The woman was directed by the fraudsters to transfer all assets into gold bars, police say, which would then be picked up by a courier who was an "FBI agent" that would take the gold to the US Department of Treasury.

In total, the victim handed over more than $789,000.

During the investigation, the Montgomery County Department of Police identified Patel as the courier of the first delivery of gold bars worth more than $331,000, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Sun was previously determined to be a second courier who also picked up gold from the woman.

Patel was apprehended at approximately 11 p.m. at Chicago O'Hare International Airport as he was boarding a flight to Ireland.

He was brought back to Montgomery County on Tuesday, Aug. 6 and held at the department's Central Processing Unit pending a bond hearing.

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