Syed M Makki, a 38-year-old Indian man in Illinois, has been sentenced to 15.5 years in prison without parole for taking part in gold scam targeting elderly victims. Gold scams are widespread in the US where scamsters convince senior citizens that they have to buy gold with their savings and hand that over to the government, as their assets are not safe in the bank. The scamsters often sell the gold to jewelry shops and leave no trail of the proceeds of the crime.
United States District Judge Greg Kays also ordered Makki to pay $4,754,000 in restitution and ordered forfeiture of the gold bars, plus a money judgment
