<\/p>\n
A courier connected to nearly $500,000 taken from a Georgia senior was arrested after collecting a box he believed contained another victim\u2019s gold. Deputies had already removed the precious metal and filled the package with rocks and dirt before he arrived.<\/p>\n
Javed Ashiq, 52, of Decatur, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen sentenced him to 14 years in federal prison on October 6, according to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a> for the Southern District of Georgia.<\/p>\n The two victims had been approached through different computer warnings. In each case, scammers invoked government authority to convince an older resident that their financial accounts were compromised and that valuable assets needed to be moved for protection.<\/p>\n The Columbia County victim, a 90-year-old woman, was represented at sentencing by her son, who read statements on behalf of his mother and himself. Investigators from Columbia County and Sandy Springs also testified as the federal case brought the two fraud investigations together.<\/p>\nA Microsoft Pop-Up Led to Nearly a Dozen Cash Pickups<\/h2>\n