A WOMAN has been scammed out of $126,000 of her life financial savings after a thief tricked her into believing he was an secret agent.

Sagar Patel, 27, was sentenced on Friday after he was discovered responsible of convincing an aged girl in Colorado to transform her cash into gold bars and handing them over to him.

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Charlotte Noble, 80, was advised to name a mysterious quantity after a pop-up message advised her she had a pc virus in July 2023.

The quantity led her to Patel, who stated her financial institution accounts had been compromised.

Patel promised he was an undercover federal agent who may assist, prosecutors stated.

The criminal persuaded Noble to transform the cash into two gold bars, every price $63,000, and provides them to him.

Fortunately, Noble made a sensible transfer throughout the change that later helped cops establish the thief.

As she gave the gold bars to Patel, who was nonetheless pretending to be an secret agent, Noble wrote down notes concerning the automotive he was driving, in line with CBS affiliate KKTV.

She gave the automobile description and the license plate quantity to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Workplace in Citadel Rock, Colorado, which is about 30 miles south of Denver.

Investigators stated Noble’s choice supplied “very important data” that cops used to trace down Patel.

Utilizing her notes, cops discovered the automotive was a rental tied to Patel. They then gathered his data from bank card and cellphone corporations.

Detectives used location knowledge from Noble’s cellphone and the automotive to place Patel on the scene of the theft, DCSO stated in a press launch.

“Surveillance footage additional confirmed Patel’s involvement, displaying him on the automobile rental counter at Denver Worldwide Airport, a marijuana dispensary in Littleton, and at different key areas,” cops stated.

Cops arrested Patel on February 1, 2024, in Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey.

He was convicted of felony felony.

On Friday, he was slapped with the utmost sentence of six years in jail.

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He was ordered to pay virtually $144,000 in restitution.

Noble’s son, William Wilcox, spoke concerning the choice at Friday’s sentencing.

“Whereas no sentence can undo what occurred to my mom, this conviction brings a small sense of justice and closure for the household,” he stated.

Throughout his sentencing listening to, Patel apologized to the court docket.

“I want I had [the] energy to return and repair that factor. I can’t,” he stated, in line with ABC affiliate KMGH.

Patel, an undocumented immigrant from India, can be beneath investigation for related crimes in Delaware and New York, the DA’s workplace stated.

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer was positioned on him, which suggests he’ll doubtless face deportation.

Deputy District Lawyer Joe Ratner stated throughout the listening to that Noble was robbed of her life financial savings.

“For those who come to Douglas County to rip-off senior residents out of gold bars, you may anticipate to be behind jail bars,” Ratner stated.

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