Friendswood Police busted a ruthless organized criminal network of six suspects who stole $2.8 million from at least six elderly Texas victims through a sophisticated gold scam originating from Indian call centers, laundered via Hawala, and eerily resembling a modern ‘jizya’ tribute extracted from non-believers—recovering $766,000 for one devastated 81-year-old while asset forfeiture targets the predators’ luxury spoils.
This article is adapted from the Friendswood Police Department’s official release on March 6, 2026
A multi-state fraud investigation has uncovered a sophisticated criminal network responsible for stealing millions of dollars from elderly victims through an elaborate gold-based scam that stretched across several Texas counties and extended beyond the United States.
The case began in December 2025 after an 81-year-old resident of Friendswood, Texas, was deceived into converting $766,000 of life savings into 177 one-ounce Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coins. According to investigators, the victim was contacted by a scammer posing as a federal employee who falsely claimed the victim’s financial accounts had been compromised and that the gold purchase was necessary to protect their assets.
Authorities later discovered that the same scheme had already been used successfully months earlier. In September 2025, a second Friendswood resident, age 76, was similarly targeted and defrauded of $134,000 using nearly identical tactics.
What initially appeared to be isolated incidents quickly evolved into a sprawling criminal investigation. Detectives soon determined that the operation involved multiple couriers, coordinated pick-ups of physical gold, and an organized network of suspects operating across the Houston metropolitan region.