An Illinois man of Indian origin was sentenced in federal court May 21, 2026, to 15½ years in prison without parole for taking part in an elder fraud conspiracy in which victims liquidated savings and retirement accounts to buy gold bars, coins, and cash. Twelve victims identified to date lost over $6 million in the scheme, a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri, said.
Syed M. Makki, 38, a citizen of India, acted as a courier for the conspiracy, in which he picked up gold bullion and cash from victims throughout the country and delivered it to co-conspirators.
United States District Judge Greg Kays also ordered Makki to pay $4,754,000 in restitution and ordered forfeiture of the gold bars, plus a money judgment.
From 2023 through March 31, 2024, conspirators put malware on people’s computers with a phone number to call. When the victims called, they falsely represented themselves as ‘Microsoft’ employees, banking officials, government employees, and law enforcement officers. The conspirators convinced the victims, who were elderly, that their identities had been compromised, and that their money was not safe in banks.
ADVERTISEMENT
Having established relationships with the victims, who ranged in age from 61 to 80 years old, the perpetrators had the victims liquidate bank and retirement accounts and buy gold bullion in the form of gold bars or gold coins with the proceeds. When the gold was delivered to the victims’ houses, conspirators directed the victims to provide the gold for ‘safekeeping’ to a co-conspirator, including Makki.
Sometimes conspirators instructed the victims to package the gold and address it to the ‘Department of Justice’ in the name of a specific person, to further the false impression that victims were dealing with trustworthy officials. Makki and others picked up the gold or cash and then transported it across state lines to co-conspirators.
On March 25 and 26, 2024, Makki picked up 16 gold bars, weighing one kilogram apiece and worth more than $1 million, from victims in Littleton, Colo. and Kansas City, Mo.. On March 27, 2024, he transported the gold bars to Ill. to deliver them to co-conspirators. That date, he was arrested in possession of the gold bars by a Morgan County, Ill., Deputy Sheriff and an Illinois State Highway Patrol Sergeant.