Six arrested in gold coin scheme targeting seniors, Friendswood PD says

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas (KTRK) -- Suspects who posed as federal employees in order to defraud vulnerable people out of hundreds of thousands of dollars have been arrested, according to the Friendswood Police Department.

Calling it an elaborate scheme to defraud people, Friendswood police said six people were charged in the case involving gold coins.

In one case, police say a Friendswood woman had nearly three-quarters of a million dollars stolen from her.

Friendswood's police chief told ABC13 there were at least five victims connected to this scheme, and that there are likely many more out there, not just in the Friendswood area but across the country.

"This was a two-month-long investigation," Friendswood Police Chief Josh Rogers said.

The department said they received a call from a victim in December who reported losing $500,000 after converting it to gold and giving it to someone they believed was a federal employee.

"It's very hard for our older population; these scammers are using scare tactics, intimidation, feat threat, and they fall victim to that. It's not a quick one phone call, some of them are talking to our victims for three months," Rogers said.

Rogers said the six suspects they charged were connected to this gold scheme and facing theft of property charges.

Friendswood Police identified the suspects as Smitaben Thakor, Samirali Ghabrani, Mudassir Iqbal Lakhani, Iqbal Ibrahim Lakhani, Zohaib Muhammad, and Samir Ali.

Rogers said the defendants convinced victims that their money was in trouble in an attempt to get them to withdraw it from their bank accounts and convert it to gold. He added that the defendants posed as federal employees and asked the victims to drop the gold off at a pickup location.

"The victims are definitely thinking they're giving it over to federal agencies; there is fraudulent identification that is given," said Rogers.

According to Rogers, the elaborate scheme prompted law enforcement to execute search warrants at a jewelry store in Sharpstown in January, where they collected evidence in connection with the fraud operation.

"They have to get this gold typically overseas out of the U.S., and when you're mailing over a million dollars worth of gold in some cases, it raises red flags; it's a little easier for a jewelry shop to be mailing and processing gold," said Rogers.

Investigators said they also went to a home in Richmond along Carluke Court, where they found 157 gold coins that law enforcement say were stolen from a Friendswood victim.

ABC13 went by that home on Thursday afternoon, and the people who opened the door said the Lakhani father-and-son duo arrested in connection with this scheme "are innocent." The location was also the listed address of two of the Lakhani men charged in this case.

Friendswood PD said that through their investigation, they recovered more than $700,000 for one of the victims, which has been returned to them.

The department said no legitimate company or organization will call you or threaten you over the phone, or ask you to withdraw and convert your money into gold. They urged people to be vigilant of who their older family members are chatting with to ensure they don't fall victim.

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