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By Staff Correspondent
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a coordinated effort involving the Gainesville Police Department, the FBI, and the IRS, authorities have arrested Gurpinder Singh, a 20-year-old from French Camp, California. Singh is accused of participating in a scheme to defraud an elderly woman of nearly $500,000 in gold. The apprehension was supported by deputies from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.
On May 22, a detective from the Gainesville Police Department was alerted by FBI and IRS agents about a senior citizen who had fallen victim to a sophisticated scam. The woman reported that she had received an email, seemingly from Amazon, regarding an issue with her Campus USA account. Concerned, she called the number provided in the email and spoke to someone identifying himself as “John Harris,” who falsely informed her that her identity had been stolen and her Social Security number was compromised. He then connected her to another individual, “Michael Chappel,” who spoke with a pronounced Hindi accent and claimed to be a Federal Trade Commission agent. “Michael” instructed her to withdraw funds from her credit union account to purchase gold bars.
Following these instructions, the victim spent $101,220 on gold at a local coin and jewelry shop. She was then directed by “Michael” to package the gold with an “FTC ID number” and send him the purchase receipt. She was told that a representative from the Treasury Department would collect the gold at a gas station in Orange Lake, where she handed over the gold on May 16.
The scam did not end there. When FBI and IRS agents reached out to the victim, she was in the process of being defrauded again by the same perpetrators. They had pressured her to pay an additional $400,000 in gold to safeguard her funds and obtain a new Social Security number.
The agents and the GPD detective helped the victim send photos of $497,229 in gold bars to “Michael,” and “Michael” told the victim to give the gold to a “Treasury agent” in Gainesville.
The pickup was scheduled for noon on June 1 at a bank on SW Archer Road, and while the victim waited in her vehicle for further instructions from “Michael,” multiple undercover FBI and ASO units waited nearby. Two agents in a nearby parking lot noticed a black Kia parked next to them with an Indian male driver who was watching the victim’s vehicle. The agents noticed that the man was constantly on the phone, and they knew from training and experience that couriers are typically on the phone with their handlers during the transaction.
After some time, the victim was told to go to a gas station near SW Archer Road and SW 122nd Street, and the agents followed the black Kia as it followed the victim’s vehicle to the gas station.
At the gas station, the Indian male went inside the store but did not buy anything; he then moved the Kia next to the victim’s vehicle and, still on his phone, he walked past her vehicle toward a food truck but did not order anything.
Meanwhile, the agents were monitoring the victim’s phone conversations with “Michael,” and “Michael” asked the victim why she had two phones; after that, the Indian male walked back to his vehicle, where he was detained.
The Indian male, identified by his Indian passport and California driver’s license as Singh, reportedly said he had recently flown in from California. The vehicle was reportedly rented in Pensacola.
Post Miranda, Singh reportedly said this was his first pickup and then declined to answer any further questions.
A search warrant is being sought for Singh’s phone, which may lead to further charges.
Singh has been charged with grand theft over $100,000. He has no known criminal history, and Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $200,000; however, he has an ICE hold and will not be released on bail. Judge Miller-Jones ordered that if he is released, he must surrender his passport within 24 hours of release.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law