KENTWOOD, La. (WVUE) – The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office has arrested a New Jersey man for scamming an elderly Tangipahoa Parish resident out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold.
Nigam Bhatt, 25, has been booked on extortion charges. Bhatt lives in Parsippany, New Jersey, and is in the U.S. on a work visa from India.
Over the weekend, detectives in Collin County, Texas, contacted TPSO about an investigation they were conducting into a gold scam operation. The scheme involves victims being contacted and told their bank account and social security benefits are frozen and can only be released with an exchange of gold. Through that investigation, detectives discovered several senior citizen victims, including one in the Kentwood area.
Arrest made before additional gold collected
At the direction of Criminal Investigations Captain John Gardner, a team from TPSO learned about the scammer’s next trip locally. On Tuesday, April 7, with assistance from the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, Bhatt was taken into custody before he could take more than $800,000 in gold from the victim.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone who believes they or a loved one has been the victim of a scam like this can contact the TPSO Criminal Investigations Division at 985-902-2088.
Sheriff Gerald Sticker said residents should be suspicious of any calls about their financial accounts. He said residents are advised to hang up and call their banking institution to verify the caller’s claims. Residents are also advised to never provide personal or financial information over the phone and never send money or valuables to strangers online, by mail or through suspicious meet-ups.
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