Communications from accused scammers over a period of several months cost an Indiana man thousands of dollars from his retirement funds, federal prosecutors said.
Now, 31-year-old Abdul Mohammed of Des Plaines, Illinois, one of the accused scammers, has been indicted on two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to a Sept. 23 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
Prosecutors say Mohammed is a fugitive . His attorney information was not listed.
An automatic not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
The victim, from Hamilton County, Indiana, started receiving texts, calls and emails from “Agent Roy” telling him that his personal information had been hacked, threatening that his assets would be seized by the IRS if they were not converted into gold bars, prosecutors said in an indictment filed Aug. 20.
“Agent Roy” also told the man he was incriminated in a drug crime, according to the indictment.
Believing the fake agent would protect his assets, the man withdrew $80,000 from two retirement accounts and exchanged it for gold bars at an Indianapolis store in November, prosecutors said.
Later that month, the accused scammer instructed the man to wrap the gold bars in wrapping paper, according to the indictment, then deliver them to another fake agent in a grocery store parking lot.
The man did so, but the fake agents continued to convince the man that his money was not safe and that he needed to give up more, prosecutors said.
In December, a document emailed to the victim from “Officer Jason Roy,” stamped with a Department of Justice seal, said he needed to give the fake FBI agents cash.
“If . . . at any point of time you deny to follow our instructions or disclose this information to anyone all your accounts will be frozen,” the document read, according to the indictment.
The man withdrew the remaining $90,000 in his retirement accounts and transferred it to his personal bank account, prosecutors said.
In January, the victim met Mohammed in a parking lot and asked “are you my Agent?” according to the indictment. Mohammed said, “yes,” and the victim gave him a bag filled with cash, prosecutors said.
Mohammed took the cash and drove off, according to the indictment.
Between May 2023, when the victim first heard from the fake agent, to January, the man emptied $170,000 from his retirement accounts and turned it over to the accused scammers posing as government officials, court documents say.
Prosecutors say there is an outstanding warrant for Mohammed. He faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted.
Des Plaines, Illinois, is a Chicago suburb. Hamilton County, Indiana, is about a 25-mile drive northeast of downtown Indianapolis.
Phone scammer tricks woman into undressing to “verify her identity,” Ohio cops say
Man pretends to be a Texas hurricane victim and gets new home, feds say. He’s charged
Cop stole nude photos from woman’s phone during Missouri traffic stop, FBI tells her
Local News
Comments / 0