Teamwork among a group of agencies resulted in the arrested of an alleged Massachusetts scammer who is reportedly in the country illegally.
According to Rochester Police Chief Michael Assad Jr., on May 26th, a victim walked into the Rochester Police Department and reported that she had been defrauded of approximately $340,000 in gold bars and Bitcoin.
The investigation revealed that the victim had traveled to Raynham, where she met with a suspect who allegedly identified himself as a federal agent and convinced her that these funds were needed to help “stop the Russians.”
Rochester Detective Paul Douglas immediately began working with Detective Patrick Leahy of the Raynham Police Department and identified the person they believed was responsible. Amritpal Singh.
Using ALPR technology, video surveillance, investigative resources, and a whole lot of good old-fashioned police work, Detectives Douglas and Leahy were able to identify a suspect and begin putting the pieces of an extremely complex investigation together.
Detective Douglas also worked closely with investigators and task force members from the FBI Metro Boston Gang Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Marshals Service, Massachusetts State Police, NYPD, and New York State Police.
Those partnerships ultimately helped investigators track the suspect to New York. Task force members executed a search warrant, and Singh was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service and returned to Massachusetts to face charges.
Singh was arraigned Thursday in Taunton District Court and was held as a fugitive from justice based on an outstanding warrant from another state involving an alleged similar offense. Investigators also developed information indicating that Singh was allegedly associated with a larger criminal organization operating across the country. Federal authorities determined that Singh was unlawfully present in the United States.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
