Mohammed
Federal agents are searching for an Illinois man accused of scamming elderly victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement savings.
Abdul Mohammed, 31, of Des Plaines, Illinois, was charged by a federal grand jury with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Mohammed and other conspirators allegedly participated in a scheme in which conspirators contacted victims, typically the elderly, and claimed to be a government agent, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana.
The indictment says the conspirators also falsely represented that the victims had been compromised in some way and needed to provide money to federal law enforcement for safekeeping. They instructed victims convert their savings and retirement accounts to cash or gold bars, and to provide those funds to law enforcement for “protection.”
In one instance, an elderly victim began receiving unsolicited phone calls, texts and emails from a conspirator purporting to be “Agent Roy” of the FBI. “Agent Roy” told the victim that his computer had been hacked and his personal information was compromised. The fake agent also told the victim he was implicated in a drug crime, also instructing the victim to withdraw $80,000 from retirement their accounts and exchange it for gold bars or it would be frozen by the IRS, according to the news release.
A member of the conspiracy, acting as “Agent Roy,” then met the victim in a Meijer parking lot in Westfield to collect the gold bars.
Even after delivering the gold, the victim was led to believe their money was not safe and they needed to give the “agents” more money.
On Dec. 8, an unknown member of the conspiracy emailed the elderly victim with a document from “Officer Jason Roy” which bore a purported seal from the Department of Justice. The document instructed the victim to withdraw funds and provide them to FBI agents as part of an operation. The document further stated “If … at any point of time you deny to follow our instructions or disclose this information to anyone all your accounts will be frozen,” federal prosecutors say.
A few weeks later, Mohammed met the victim in the same parking lot in an attempt to collect another $45,000 in cash.
The FBI is investigating this case. If convicted, Abdul Mohammed faces up to 60 years in federal prison.
“We encourage Mr. Mohammed to contact the FBI immediately to arrange for his safe surrender to answer the charges against him,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, in the news release.
Anyone with information on Mohammed’s whereabouts, should contact the FBI at 317-595-4000 or FBI.gov/tips.
