California man sentenced to 30 days in jail, ordered to pay $30,000 for defrauding elderly couple – Loveland Reporter-Herald

A California man will spend a month in jail and have to pay $30,000 after he defrauded a Larimer County couple out of that money and almost defrauded them of another $70,000.

In March, an 85-year-old man and an 83-year-old woman contacted law enforcement to report a scam, according to a statement Thursday from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. The couple were tricked by a pop-up window on their computer, which led them to call “Microsoft Support Services” to resolve the fake technical issue.

“The scammer initially contacted the elderly couple over the phone where he told them to withdraw $30,000,” a sheriff’s office spokesman said in an email. “Then someone took the money from them.”

A few days later, the scammer asked for an additional $70,000 to resolve a fictitious bank account issue. After the couple’s withdrawal request was rejected by several banks that suspected fraud, the scammer instructed them to obtain $70,000 in gold bars and that he would come to their home to pick them up, the statement said; the couple, suspicious of solicitation, contacted the sheriff’s office.

In April, investigators waited with the victims and arrested the man when he came to pick up the gold. He was identified by authorities as Arashdeep Dhaliwal, 28, of California.

“The scammer did all of this under the guise of fixing a fake problem with his bank account,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Dhaliwal was arrested on charges of theft, a Class 5 felony; and two counts of theft from a person at risk, a Class 3 felony. He later entered into a plea agreement with the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, where he pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft of class 4, and the other charges were dismissed.

In July, 8th Judicial District Court Judge Stephen Jouard sentenced Dhaliwal to 30 days in jail on work release, three years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay $30,000 in restitution to the victims.

“It can often be difficult for victims of fraud to come forward, feeling guilty or ashamed of falling for a scam. That’s exactly what scammers want. They isolate their victims and make them feel helpless,” Sgt. Rita Servin said in the statement. “They scare people into giving the scammers money and use psychological manipulation to discourage them from reporting the crime. It is extremely difficult to identify suspects in scam cases because they often operate from other states or internationally. I am grateful to the banks that initially expressed concern about the fraud and to the investigators who stepped in and arrested this man before he could further take advantage of innocent people. I also commend the victims for coming forward and reporting this situation.”

Investigators learned that the suspect may have been involved in similar incidents in other areas. Anyone with information about other scams involving Dhaliwal was asked to contact the sheriff’s office, 970-498-5100, or the local jurisdiction where the crime occurred.

“Scams are extremely common and affect Larimer County residents of all ages,” the department added in its statement. “Using fear and other aggressive tactics, scammers try to coerce their victims into sending money, gift cards, cryptocurrencies or precious metals like gold. Scammers demand compensation to fix made-up problems, such as fake computer problems, impostor grandchildren in jail, or fake warrants that don’t actually exist. Legitimate law enforcement or government agencies will never ask for payment to solve these problems.”

More information about scams and how to recognize them can be found on the website Larimer County website.