Man Arraigned For Months-long Scam Of Newton Woman

NEWTON, MA — A man has been arraigned in court on the charges of extortion, larceny of more than $250 from a person over the age of 60, and conspiracy for allegedly participating in a scheme to extort and defraud a 72-year-old Newton woman out of nearly $500,000, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

23-year-old Vishal Kumar is being accused of taking part in a months-long phone scam that began last December, in which callers contacted the victim pretending to be entities such as the Drug Enforcement Agency and the United States Treasury to manipulate and threaten the woman into giving them approximately $480,000. Kumar presented the woman with images of counterfeit treasury checks to convince her she would be able to secure her assets with them in the future.
The victim reportedly delivered gold bars to Kumar on multiple occasions. Once the woman’s family learned of the situation, they informed the victim she was being scammed, and the police were contacted.

An officer went undercover to deliver what was supposed to be $165,000 worth of gold to Kumar, and had Kumar arrested by Newton police and FBI agents after Kumar took possession of the package.
Kumar was arraigned in late February on a cash bail of $500,000. His next court date is slated for Wednesday, April 2.