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William Dawson, age 51, was indicted on fraud charges by a federal grand jury in Worcester on Wednesday, Oct. 18.
According to prosecutors, Dawson met with an employee of a home cleanout business in January 2023 after the company was hired by an estate in Shrewsbury.
The employee reportedly found 170 Queen Elizabeth II Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coins inside the home, collectively worth around $290,000. With approval from the estate, the employee agreed to sell 120 of the coins.
Dawson met the employee in Millbury and gave them two checks totaling $198,000 in exchange for the gold coins, despite having significantly less than that amount in his bank account, prosecutors allege.
Hours later, he reportedly called the employee claiming that his car had been broken into and all the gold coins had been stolen.
According to investigators, in reality Dawson took 62 of the coins to pawn shops in Pawtucket and Cranston, Rhode Island, where he sold them for a combined $115,536.
In court Wednesday, Dawson was arraigned on one count of interstate transportation of property taken by fraud.
He was released from custody while his case proceeds.
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