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More than $250M gold scheme accused after bullion melted in Florida
Tarrant County prosecutors say the alleged scheme involved warning calls, instructions to move money into gold, bitcoin or cash, and a money-laundering pipeline through shell companies to a Florida refinery.
Tarrant County, Texas prosecutors allege a scheme that targeted more than 200 older adults, persuading them to withdraw savings and hand it to couriers collecting it. Prosecutors put the total allegedly fleeced at more than $250 million, and say victims were warned that their money was not safe, then instructed to move it from banks into gold, bitcoin or cash.
According to prosecutors, the gold rarely stayed as gold for long. They allege it was moved through shell companies to a refinery in Florida, where gold bars were melted.
The Tarrant County district attorney’s office announced the arrest of Muzamil Ahmed, 35, who was arrested Sept. 3 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and held in Tarrant County Jail as of Sept. 4. District Attorney Phil Sorrells said Ahmed was reportedly trying to fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but instead was taken to Tarrant County.
Prosecutors say Ahmed was charged via Tarrant County warrants with financial abuse of the elderly, money laundering and engaging in organized crime for theft. A grand jury indicted him Aug. 28 on two counts of financial abuse of the elderly, and court records cited by prosecutors indicate bonds totaling $3.15 million, with allegations including swindling one resident out of between $30,000 and $150,000 and taking money or gold from more than 35 other people. Prosecutors also said two additional people were arrested the same day in Chicago and Newark, New Jersey, as they allegedly tried to flee to Canada.
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