Scammer convinces victim to pay $65,000 in gold bars in Franklin County

By Russell Kinsaul

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    FRANKLIN COUNTY, Missouri (KMOV) — A Union Police Department investigation led to charges against an Alabama man for a scam that cost the victim $65,000. Court records show 30-year-old Sasi Karumuri is charged with financial exploitation of an elderly person, although he’s not in custody.

Cpt. Michael Williford told News 4 that the scam began with a phone call to the 84-year-old victim from the scammer.

“He claimed to be an FBI agent and said that he had his identity stolen and that he was in trouble, had a warrant for his arrest. And the only way to take care of it is to give him a large amount of money,” he said.

Williford said the scammer on the phone demanded that the victim pay him $65,000 in gold bars. When the scammer came to the victim’s home to get the gold bars, he said, the victim became suspicious and took a photo of the scammer’s rental car.

“We were able to identify a person and through rental car agreements and investigations, we were able to determine a person that we thought it might be,” said Williford.

Karumuri is believed to be from Montgomery, Alabama. It’s unclear why he would have been in the Franklin county area, Williford said. Union detectives have been working with Montgomery police to arrest Karumuri if he returns.

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