Colorado victims help police in sting operations, put California scammers behind bars

A 76-year-old Douglas County resident who was scammed out of more than $200,000 earlier this year helped authorities capture two men in a sting operation. Those men were recently sentenced to prison. 

The crime began with a pop-up alert the woman allegedly received on her iPad in March. The message told her to call a telephone number. The person who answered the number pretended to be an "undercover agent" with law enforcement, according to a press release from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. 

The "agent" told the woman her identity had been stolen and someone was writing fraudulent checks for pornography websites from her bank accounts. The woman was instructed to transfer more than $200,000 into a new account and use the money to purchase gold bars from a local store in Littleton. The woman did as instructed and personally handed the gold bars over to the "agent" in the parking lot of a Castle Pines business. 

She wasn't the only victim.

Douglas County's successful sting

In May, the same sheriff's office issued a "fraud alert" after receiving numerous reports from residents who were being instructed to purchase gold bars and deliver them to suspects in a parking lot.

The Douglas County woman continued to receive messages from the scammers. They requested more gold bars in exchange for resolving the issues they claimed had befallen her bank accounts and identity.

In May, DCSO set up a meeting between the victim and the scammers in a parking lot. The scheme was dubbed "Operation I Love Gold" by the department. 

Two men arrived at the location and approached the woman under the guise of obtaining gold bars. Punit Punit, 30, and Anil Dhiman, 35, both migrants from India, per the sheriff's office, were then surrounded and arrested. 

Douglas County posted recordings of their capture on Youtube.  

Punit and Dhiman later pleaded guilty to attempted theft and conspiracy charges. They were both sentenced Oct. 25 to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. 

The men were also ordered by the judge to pay back the victim for her losses. 

"These defendants targeted and preyed on an elderly adult – not once, but twice – forever changing the victims' lives," 18th Judicial District Deputy District Attorney Sherri Giger stated in the press 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. Had Mr. Dhiman and Mr. Punit not been caught, I have no doubt that they would have continued targeting more vulnerable victims through this scheme."

Investigators learned both men lived in California and traveled to Colorado as part of their criminal activity. They are suspected of similar crimes in California. It is believed will be deported back to India after serving their sentences, according to the sheriff's office. 

A 2nd Douglas County victim

DCSO handled another case which began the same month as the previously mentioned one. An 81-year-old woman purchased $429,000 in gold bars and delivered them to a man in a black SUV in a Littleton parking lot in March. The woman wrote down the SUV's license plate, however. 

Police tracked the vehicle to Illinois. There, state police arrested 36-year-old Syed Makki. Gold bars belonging to the Douglas County victim and another victim in Kansas City, and valued at $1.1 million, were recovered. Investigators have identified other victims across the country. 

Makki was brought Colorado in early April and placed in Douglas County's jail. The same day Punit and Dhiman were sentenced, Makki pleaded not guilty to all charges, according to online court records. A trial is scheduled in April 2025.

A sting in Larimer County

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office conducted a sting operation of its own. An 85-year-old man and 83-year-old woman received a pop-up message on their computer, also in March, instructing them to contact a support services representative to resolve a technical issue. 

Eventually, a man arrived at their home and collected $30,000 from them. 

That man later instructed the couple to provide another $70,000 to resolve their problems. But the couple's attempts to withdraw that money from their accounts caught the attention of bank authorities and were rejected. The man then told the couple to purchase gold bars. 

That's when the couple contacted authorities. 

Arashdeep Dhaliwal, 28, was arrested when he came to the couple's home in April to pick up the gold bars. Dhaliwal, like Punit and Dhimal, traveled from California to victimize Coloradans.

Dhaliwal was sentenced Oct. 24 to 30 days in jail (to be served at work release), three years supervised probation, and repayment of the victim's $30,000. Dhaliwal will serve his probation in Washington while investigators continue to seek out victims in other areas, according to Larimer County.

"It can often be difficult for fraud victims to come forward, feeling guilty or ashamed that they fell for a scam. That's exactly what scammers want. They isolate their victims and make them feel helpless. They scare people into giving the scammers money, and use psychological manipulation to discourage them from reporting the crime," LCSO Investigations Sgt. Rita Servin stated in a press release. "It's extremely challenging to identify suspects in scam cases as they're often operating from other states or internationally. I'm grateful to the banks who initially raised concerns about this being fraud and the investigators who intervened and arrested this man before he could take further advantage of innocent people. I also commend the victims for coming forward and reporting this situation."   

Detectives from both agencies asked citizens to never click on pop-up ads on their electronic devices, including cell phones. They also suggested monetary exchanges be conducted in public locations with surveillance systems or in dedicated safe zones near law enforcement agencies.