MILLSBORO, Del.- Delaware State Police arrested 35-year-old Rakeshkumar Patel of New York, for felony theft following a joint financial crimes investigation with the FBI.
In Feb., a Millsboro woman contacted DSP to report that she was the victim of a scam. During a joint investigation with the FBI, detectives learned that starting in Oct. last year, a suspect had impersonated a federal agent and convinced the victim that she needed to convert money to gold.
DSP said the suspect told the Millsboro woman to give it to him for transport to the U.S. Treasury for safe keeping. Through the investigation, detectives identified Rakeshkumar Patel as one of the suspects involved in the scam.
On May 20, DSP arrested Patel near Millsboro and was taken to Troop 4. Patel was charged with theft over $100,000 and wearing a disguise during the commission of a felony. Both charges are considered felonies and Patel was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court 2, and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on a $103,000 cash bond. The joint investigation is ongoing as detectives are working to identify other suspects.
DSP detectives are asking anyone who may have been defrauded in a similar manner to please contact the Financial Crimes Unit by calling Troop 2 for New Castle County at 302-834-2620, Troop 3 for Kent County at 302-697-4454, and Troop 4 for Sussex County at 302-856-5850.