BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) – Two men, 29-year-old Mayurkumar Sanjaybhai Patel and 26-year-old Akshay Rai Priyadarshi, have been charged in connection with a scam targeting a Bourbon County resident. Both are accused of conspiracy to commit theft by deception involving over $10,000.
According to the Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office, a victim reported being contacted by individuals posing as IRS agents. The victim received an email regarding a hacked account, which included a link that led to a phone call from scammers pretending to be IRS agents and representatives from her financial organization.
Believing her money was at risk, the victim withdrew funds from her bank account and deposited them into a Bitcoin account. She was then instructed to wire the remaining funds to New York to purchase gold bars, which the scammers claimed would be shipped to her. They also stated that an “agent” would come to collect the gold.
The victim reported the ongoing harassment from the scammers to authorities, prompting an investigation. The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office contacted the FBI, who assisted in arresting the suspects when they arrived to collect the gold.
Patel and Priyadarshi are college students from Beaver Creek, Ohio, in the U.S. on student visas, originally from India. The case is now proceeding to a Grand Jury.