According to Nassau County Police detectives, a 75-year-old male victim, who lives out of state, was contacted via telephone by an unknown man claiming to work for the Treasury Department.
The victim was instructed to send $13,000 to a FedEx pickup location at 2745 Long Beach Road in Oceanside, police said.
The suspect, Ronak Patel, age 26, of Hicksville arrived at the location on Friday, June 11 at 1:30 p.m. and after attempting to retrieve the package was placed into police custody by Fourth Precinct officers without incident.
Patel has been charged with:
- Third-degree attempted grand larceny,
- Ten counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument.
He has been scheduled to be arraigned on Saturday, June 12, in Mineola.
Detectives request anyone who feels they may have been a victim of a similar crime to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS or call 911. All callers will remain anonymous.
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