Gold Scammer Arrested
KENTWOOD (April 8, 2026)- The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office (TPSO), in collaboration with the Collin County (TX) Sheriff’s Office, has arrested a New Jersey man for scamming an elderly Tangipahoa Parish resident out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold.
Nigam Bhatt, 25, has been booked on Extortion charges. Bhatt lives in Parsippany, New Jersey, but is in the U.S. on a work visa from India.
Over the weekend, detectives in Collin County contacted TPSO about an investigation they were conducting into a gold scam operation. The scheme involves victims being contacted and told their bank account and social security benefits are frozen and can only be released with an exchange of gold. Through that investigation, detectives discovered several unsuspecting, senior citizen victims, including one in the Kentwood area.
At the direction of Criminal Investigations Captain John Gardner, a team from TPSO was able to learn about the scammer’s next trip locally. On Tuesday, April 7, with assistance from the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, Bhatt was taken into custody before he could take morethan $800,000 in gold from the victim.
This investigation is still ongoing and widespread. If you believe you or a loved one has been the victim of a scam like this, contact the TPSO Criminal Investigations Division at 985-902-2088.
Sheriff Gerald Sticker reminds residents to be suspicious of any calls about their financial accounts. You’re advised to hang up and call your banking institution to verify the caller’s claims. Residents are also advised to never provide personal or financial information over the phone and never send money or valuables to strangers online, by mail or through suspicious meet-ups.
TPSO Public Information Office, pio@tpso.org
