Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Atharva Shailesh Sathawane, 22, of Tampa, was arrested yesterday and charged with grand theft over $100,000 after allegedly picking up almost $200,000 in gold coins from an elderly Gainesville man who was the target of a scam.

The victim, who is 83 years old, was the target of a scheme in which a scammer contacted him by phone and said $100 had been sent to his PayPal account, so he needed to pay it back. The scammer then told the victim that $10,000 had been sent to his PayPal account, and he needed to pay it back in Bitcoin. The victim reportedly paid the money into an unknown crypto wallet.

The scammer then told the victim that $200,000 had been sent to his PayPal account and in order to avoid taxes, he needed to send $200,000 in gold. The victim purchased 68 gold coins, worth $198,560, and was told to send pictures of the coins and the box they were in. The scammer then said that a courier would come back to get the coins. On February 6, the courier arrived in a black Mustang, and the victim gave the driver, later identified as Sathawane, the coins.

A short time later, the scammer told the victim that he needed to pay back another $200,000, but this time the victim became suspicious and contacted the police.

A Gainesville Police Department officer contacted the victim, who told the scammer that he had purchased another 68 gold coins. Yesterday, officers went to the victim’s home, and after the scammer told the victim that the courier was on the way, they watched as a black Mustang pulled up in front of the victim’s house. When the scammer told the victim that the courier was at his house, patrol officers detained the driver.

The victim reportedly said he recognized the Mustang but not the driver.

Post Miranda, Sathawane reportedly said he was in Gainesville to pick up a package and deliver it somewhere and that he has been picking up and delivering packages for about a month. He said he knew the packages contained gold because he had to open them and send pictures of the contents to his employers. He reportedly said that after a few pickups, he knew what he was doing was wrong, but the money was too good. He said that depending on how far he had to travel, the scammer paid him between $800 and $1,200 to pick up the packages. He said the people he speaks to are in India and Chicago, and sometimes they change names. He said he delivered some of the packages to Clearwater and that he had been in Gainesville the previous week to pick up a package from the same victim.

Sathawane had been charged with grand theft over $100,000. He has no criminal history; Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $250,000.

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.