A man convicted of helping target and dupe two people over the age of 70 in Montgomery County, Maryland, by taking part in what’s known as a gold bar scam, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Vipul Thakkar, 53, of Owings Mills, Maryland, pleaded guilty to several charges related to gold bar scams, which involve tricking people into converting their savings into gold bars and handing them over to criminals posing as people who are safeguarding their money.
Thakkar was arrested on July 24, 2024 while attempting to pick up more than $240,000 worth of gold bars from a 74-year-old Bethesda man who converted more than $1 million, in total, into gold bars as part of the scam.
When the man saw a news report about a similar scheme, he contacted police, who arranged the July pickup that led to Thakkar’s arrest.
Thakkar then told police he would make “package pickups” of gold or cash from elderly victims and receive a percentage of its value back for completing the job. He was set to make $400 for the final pickup.
He also admitted to picking up $40,000 in cash from an 80-year-old woman in a shopping center parking lot in Silver Spring in a separate incident on July 16, 2024.
The judge at Thakkar’s sentencing hearing ordered him to pay $40,000 in restitution.
Thakkar was sentenced to a total of 10 years in prison with all but 18 months suspended and five years of supervised probation.
His case was one of several targeting older adults in Montgomery County recently, causing several people to lose millions of dollars.
WTOP’s José Umaña contributed to this report.
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