GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Another reported gold fraud scam targeting the elderly was disrupted by Kent County deputies and now has two people from out of state facing multiple felony charges.
In the latest case, a couple from Ada were told to cash out their savings and convert the funds into $250,000 in gold, court records show.
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The pair behind the reported scam represented themselves as federal agents, according to the records. They are identified as Christian Jalan Matthews, 23, from Pennsylvania and Taylor Nicole Mitchell-Meeks, 28, of New Jersey.
They have court hearings this week on three felony charges, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The charges include conducting a criminal enterprise. Matthews and Mitchell-Meeks remain in the Kent County jail on $500,000 bonds.
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They are not the first out-of-towners who have attempted to separate elderly residents from their money, investigators say.
In early May, a 79-year-old Spring Lake woman was told her Social Security funds were being used to support terrorism and directed to buy $700,000 in gold — but an alert store owner intervened, records show…