Investigators have captured two men whom they say stole $156,256 from an elderly Indian River Shores resident last February in a sophisticated international ransomware and gold bar scheme that is sweeping the country.
A second elderly Shores victim was swindled out of $1.7 million in bitcoin, cash and gold bullion, but that case is still actively being investigated, and thus far detectives have not identified any suspects or released details.
“These are far-reaching scams and it’s amazing how well orchestrated they are,” said Indian River Shores Detective Sergeant Rodney Grass. “We know that people have been hit in Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas … it goes on and on. In Wisconsin alone, there are 49 victims who reported losing more than $38 million.”
It took more than a year and the cooperation of multiple agencies in multiple states to capture the two suspects in the first case, Grass said. Rakeshbhai Harshadbhai Patel, 35, is being held in the Indian River County Jail on a $1 million bond, charged with grand theft of more than $50,000 from a person age 65 years or older, a first-degree felony. His arraignment is scheduled for March 20.
Syed Mubbashir Makki, 36, is being held as a fugitive from justice in Douglas County, Colorado, with various agencies including the U.S. Secret Service involved in the case. Makki is facing charges for defrauding victims in a similar scam in Littleton, Colorado, and Kansas City, Missouri. Once he answers to those charges, Makki will be extradited to Indian River County to face charges here, Grass said.
Patel and Makki took $156,256 in gold in two separate encounters from the same elderly Shores woman. Investigators believe the men are couriers in a large, international ring of thieves who target mostly elderly, well-to-do people. The gold is melted down and made into car parts, which are then shipped overseas, detectives said.
How the scheme works
On Feb. 5, 2024, the woman, age 77 at the time, received a “pop-up” window on her computer warning her that her computer had a virus, Grass said. When she called the phone number on the pop-up, a man identifying himself as a government agent said her bank accounts had been compromised and that he would help her secure her finances.
During several phone conversations, the “agent” coerced the woman into converting $83,352 from her bank account into gold bars, Grass said. The woman was told that a courier, also a government agent, would meet her in the parking lot of the CVS on A1A on Feb. 15. After giving her the proper password, the fake agent would retrieve the gold from her and transfer the gold to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Grass said.
Grass obtained security video from CVS that showed a gray Nissan sedan pull up and park next to the woman’s car. The woman passed a box through the passenger side window, Grass said. Then, using a License Plate Reader, Grass got the tag number of the Nissan, which had been rented at Palm Beach International Airport.
Makki, who is in the country on a Permanent Resident “green card,” was arrested on Sept. 6 in Illinois. Detectives found $1.1 million in gold bars in his vehicle that they believe was stolen from victims in Colorado and Missouri.
Makki is accused of convincing the same woman to convert an additional $72,904 to gold bars, place them in a lockbox and to meet another courier at the CVS on Feb. 28. According to CVS security video, this courier arrived in a gray Hyundai sedan. Grass again got the vehicle’s tag number using the license plate reader system and learned that the car had been rented using the Turo app from a private couple in Kindred, Florida. Grass subpoenaed the rental records from Turo to discover that Patel was the renter.
A further search determined that Patel, who is not an American citizen but holds an Indian driver license and a foreign passport, had entered the country Feb. 2 at the Miami International Airport and had used a Visa debit card in the Indian River County area shortly before and after Feb. 28, Grass said.
Detectives learned that Patel had traveled to the U.K. after the crime. When Patel traveled back to the U.S. on Dec. 30, he was apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Texas and extradited to Indian River County on Jan. 10, where he is awaiting arraignment.
Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey said his department has not received any complaints about similar scams. Neither has the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, according to spokesman Capt. Joseph Abollo.
These scammers seem to target victims with money market accounts, Grass said, because large money market transactions generally aren’t monitored by financial advisors.