California man sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay $30,000 for defrauding elderly couple

A California man will spend a month in jail and pay $30,000 after cheating a Larimer County couple out of that money and nearly defrauding them of another $70,000.

In March, an 85-year-old man and an 83-year-old woman contacted police to report a scam, according to a news release from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. The couple was tricked by a pop-up on their computer, prompting them to call “Microsoft Support Services” to resolve the fake technical issue.

“The scammer initially contacted the elderly couple by phone, telling them to withdraw $30,000,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson said in an email. “Someone then collected the money from them.”

Several days later, the scammer asked for another $70,000 to resolve a fictitious bank account problem. After the couple’s withdrawal request was rejected by several banks that suspected fraud, the scammer instructed them to obtain $70,000 in gold bars and that he would come to their home to pick it up, the release said; The couple, suspicious of the request, contacted the sheriff’s office.

In April, investigators waited with the victims and arrested the man when he came to collect the gold. He was identified by authorities as 28-year-old Arashdeep Dhaliwal of California.

“The scammer did all of this under the guise of resolving a false issue with their bank account,” the sheriff’s office said.

Dhaliwal was arrested on charges of theft, a class 5 misdemeanor; and two counts of theft by a person at risk, a Class 3 felony. He later entered into a plea agreement with the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, where he pleaded guilty to one count of theft as a Class 4 felony and the other charges were dismissed.

In July, 8th Judicial District Judge Stephen Jouard sentenced Dhaliwal to 30 days in jail to be served upon release from work, three years of supervised probation and ordered him to pay the victims $30,000 in restitution.

“It can often be difficult for fraud victims to come forward because they feel guilty or ashamed about having fallen for a scam. That’s exactly what scammers want. They isolate their victims and make them feel helpless,” said Investigations Sgt. Rita Servin said in the release. “They scare people into giving the scammers money and use psychological manipulation to deter them from reporting the crime. It is a huge challenge to identify suspects in fraud cases because they often operate from other states or internationally. I am grateful to the banks who initially raised concerns that this was fraud, and to the investigators who intervened and arrested this man before he could further abuse innocent people. I also commend the victims for coming forward and reporting this situation.”

Investigators learned the suspect may have been part of similar incidents in other areas. Anyone with information about other scams involving Dhaliwal has been asked to contact the sheriff’s office, 970-498-5100, or the local jurisdiction where the crime occurred.

“Scams are extremely common and affect Larimer County residents of all ages,” the department added. “Using fear and other aggressive tactics, scammers try to coerce their victims into sending money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or precious metals such as gold. Scammers demand compensation to solve made-up problems, such as fake computer problems, impostors of grandchildren in jail or fake arrest warrants that do not exist in reality. Legitimate law enforcement or government agencies will never demand payment to resolve these issues.”

More information about scams and how to recognize them can be found on the website Larimer County website.