A New Jersey man faces at least a year in prison after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $600,000 in gold and more than $90,000 in cash from a Pennsylvania victim, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.
Hirtik Hemchand Khatri, 26, pleaded guilty to several charges, including extortion, theft by unauthorized taking, and other connected acts, on November 20, 2025, according to officials.
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An inquiry into Khatri began after a 74-year-old man called the Whitehall Township Police Department to claim that he was the victim of a long-running fraud.
The victim informed authorities that he received an email alerting him to a fraudulent charge on his PayPal account.
He was eventually told that he was accountable for the charge and that he would have to refund the corporation, police said.
The fraudster urged him to go to a nearby gas station and use a Bitcoin kiosk to repay PayPal for the fee.
According to the victim, he subsequently received multiple calls, each alleging that a mistake had occurred and that he needed to pay to correct it with bitcoin, gold, or cash.
