A scamming duo was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment Friday for what prosecutors described as an “elaborate” scheme to dupe an older Castle Pines woman into purchasing and handing over about $203,000 worth of gold bars.
Anil Dhiman, 35, and Punit Punit, 30, both Indian immigrants, were behind the fraud in which a caller who identified himself as an “agent” told the woman that her identity had been stolen and someone was using her financial information to write fraudulent checks to pornography websites, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The caller instructed her to open a new bank account, transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars into it and then use the funds to buy the gold bars from a store in Littleton.
She was then instructed to hand over the precious metals to an “undercover agent” in the parking lot of a business in Castle Pines. After doing so, she continued to receive calls and messages instructing her to buy more gold to restore her identity.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office issued a “fraud alert” about the scam in May, having been contacted by numerous residents who, like the Castle Pines victim, were told to purchase and deliver gold bars to suspects in a parking lot.
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Deputies subsequently set up a sting with the woman’s help, and arrested Punit and Dhiman when they came to pick up more gold bars.
On Friday, Dhiman pleaded guilty to conspiracy and attempting to commit theft from an at-risk adult, and conspiracy and attempting to commit theft totaling between $100,000 and $1 million, all felonies; while Punit pleaded guilty to conspiracy and attempting to commit theft from an at-risk adult, and attempting to commit theft totaling between $100,000 and $1 million.
The release said both are expected to pay restitution, and both will be deported back to India after serving their sentences. The two previously lived in California, where they were involved in a similar theft, and traveled to Colorado to engage in criminal activity, according to prosecutors.
“These defendants targeted and preyed on an elderly adult – not once, but twice – forever changing the victims’ lives,” deputy district attorney Sherri Giger said in the release. “Because of their selfish actions, this victim and her husband will not be able to enjoy the retirement they worked their entire lives to build.”
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