By Pamela Sroka-Holzmann
A New Jersey man was sentenced up to three years in state prison for stealing more than $500,000 in gold and about $91,000 in cash from a 74-year-old man.
On Friday afternoon, Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas M. Caffrey sentenced 25-year-old Hirtik Hemchand Khatri of Lawrence Township, Mercer County, to serve 11 months, 29 days to 36 months in prison for two counts felony theft charges.
Additionally, he will serve two years of probation for a one count felony criminal use of a communication facility charge. Khatri was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim of $688,372.
Khatri pleaded guilty to the charges on Nov. 20. Court records show two other felony theft counts and a felony receiving stolen property charge were withdrawn as part of a plea arrangement.
Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced the sentencing Friday afternoon. Philadelphia-based attorney Zak Taylor Goldstein, representing Khatri, told lehighvalleylive.com his client is “very remorseful” in playing a role in the scam.
“The evidence ultimately showed that he (Khatri) responded to an ad to work as a courier, and he received a very small payment for making pickups and deliveries,” Goldstein said. “He did not understand the nature of the scam. He should have known better, so he pleaded guilty to accept responsibility for his limited role, and he is very sorry for his involvement and hopes that the complainant’s money can be recovered by the federal government or other law enforcement.”
Whitehall Township police were contacted by the 74-year-old victim on Feb. 3, 2025. The victim reported a lengthy scam that started with an email about a fraudulent PayPal charge.
Prosecutors said the victim was told he was responsible for the error and had to go to a Bitcoin kiosk to repay PayPal. The scam continued with numerous calls, each with variations on the theme that an error had been made and the victim had to repay the error with cryptocurrency, gold or cash.
The victim was told if he didn’t make the payments, he would be put in jail, officials said.
The victim withdrew funds from his IRA and purchased more than 200 gold bars, worth nearly $600,000, which Khatri picked up at the victim’s home.
Police were able to identify Khatri by using a license plate reader to find the Mercedes-Benz he was driving when he picked up the gold. The victim identified Khatri from a photo lineup, police said.
The Lehigh County Elder Abuse Task Force said it has seen a growing number of fraudulent scams. Older residents are more susceptible to fraud because they often have more savings and may be less familiar with new technologies like PayPal and Bitcoin, officials say.
Authorities are warning the public to be suspicious of anyone who contacts them by phone and asks for a large sum of money in any form.
“Anyone who asks for large amounts of funds, especially in methods like cryptocurrency, precious metals, gift cards, and cash is almost certainly part of a scam,” police said.
The case was investigated by Whitehall Township Police Detective Lindsay Yetter; the Lehigh County Elder Abuse Task Force; Homeland Security Investigations in Allentown and Trenton; Homeland Security Investigation Agent Sean Crawford; and Lawrence Township (NJ) Police.
It was prosecuted by Lehigh County Chief Deputy District Attorney Ramma R. Mineo.
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Elder fraud scam: N.J. man gets prison for stealing gold, cash from Lehigh County senior
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