Texas Family Loses Millions to Sophisticated Gold Bar Scam Targeting Seniors
A North Texas family is reeling after their 78-year-old father lost his entire life savings – more than $2 million – to a complex fraud scheme involving bogus claims of bank account hacking and a promise of safeguarding assets through gold. The case, which tragically concluded with the man’s death in November, highlights a growing trend of financial exploitation targeting older adults, authorities say.
Katie Brown, the daughter of Robert Brown, a retired oil geologist from Little Elm, Texas, described how the scam unfolded. In April of last year, her father received an email falsely claiming his bank account had been compromised. He was then instructed to withdraw his funds, convert them into gold or cryptocurrency, and deliver the assets to a courier for “safekeeping.” Instead, the scammers vanished with the money, leaving Robert Brown “heartbroken” and financially devastated.
“It cleaned out his retirement savings,” Katie Brown said, according to reports. The Collin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case as part of a larger pattern known as the “gold bar scam.” Recent raids on two North Texas jewelry stores believed to be connected to the scheme have led to four additional victims coming forward, reporting combined losses of $4.4 million.
Investigators describe the operation as a multi-layered network. It begins with overseas call centers initiating the fraud, followed by local couriers collecting the gold, and finally, jewelry stores melting down the gold and reselling it. Federal authorities recently shut down three call centers in India believed to be the origin point of the scam, where initial contact with American victims was made.
The investigation is ongoing, but authorities have already secured a conviction in a related case. Dhruv Rajeshbhai Mangukiya, a 21-year-old from India who was in the United States on a student visa, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,515,780 in restitution for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Court documents revealed Mangukiya received gold and cash from victims and shared the proceeds with his co-conspirators. He admitted to receiving 2% of the fraudulent gains.
The scheme employed tactics of impersonating government officials, contacting victims by phone and falsely claiming they needed to deposit cash or gold to resolve an investigation or prevent financial loss. One victim in Granite Shoals withdrew $180,000 after being told his identity was linked to drug cartels. Another elderly woman in Fort Worth withdrew $30,000 after a fraudulent representative from Amazon claimed her Social Security number had been stolen.
Mangukiya was arrested in December 2024 at his New Jersey residence, where agents discovered a printer for creating fake IDs and more than $73,000 in cash. Kishan Rajeshkumar Patel, a co-conspirator in the scheme, was previously sentenced to 63 months in federal prison in June.
The prevalence of financial fraud against older adults is a growing concern. The Better Business Bureau reports that seniors lose more than $36 billion to financial fraud annually. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, 105,301 cases of fraud against individuals age 60 or older were reported in 2020, a number that rose to 128,216 in 2021. However, experts believe these numbers represent only a fraction of the actual cases, as many victims do not report being defrauded.
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Supplemental Fraud Survey from 2017 indicates a significant gap in research on fraud victimization among older adults. Existing studies often lack national representation, have small sample sizes, or rely on reported cases, leading to varying prevalence estimates. The lack of comprehensive data underscores the need for increased awareness and preventative measures to protect vulnerable seniors from these increasingly sophisticated scams.
