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Gaurang Contractor, 38, an Indian national, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the charge of wire fraud, the US Attorney's Office announced on Friday, Dec. 9.
Investigators said Contractor contacted the woman in August and claimed to be a DEA agent named Oscar White. He told her that she was implicated in an identity theft ring and that drug dealers had compromised her bank accounts, the prosecutor said. The fake agent told her that she needed to withdraw $330,000 from those accounts and buy gold bars from Hannoush Jewelers in Hadley to "avoid prosecution," authorities said. She was then supposed to deliver the gold to an officer of the court.
The woman purchased the gold but became suspicious and contacted authorities. Hadley police detectives partnered with the FBI and two other local police agencies to investigate the case, Hadley Police said in August.
The task force set up a meeting with "Oscar White" at Texas Roadhouse on Route 9 on Aug. 8, where they told him there would be two buckets of gold waiting for him inside a car's trunk. The gold was as real as his DEA badge.
Investigators said they watched Contractor in a black BMW pull into the parking lot and remove the buckets from the bait car before attempting to drive off. Federal agents and police quickly descended on him. He tried to escape, but he had nowhere to go, police said.
Contractor pleaded not guilty in August to charges of attempted larceny from a person over 60 and breaking into a motor vehicle with intent to commit a felony in Eastern Hampshire District Court, Hadley police said.
A federal grand jury indicted him on wire fraud this week, the US Attorney said. He is scheduled to appear in a federal court on Dec. 16.
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