Overview
- Investigators staged a planned gold transaction on Aug. 25 and followed suspect Sukhvinder Singh to a FedEx inside a Pearland Walmart where officers arrested him as packages containing gold were being prepared for shipment.
- Galveston County charged Sukhvinder Singh with theft over $300,000 and engaging in organized criminal activity, set his bond at $1 million and said he is being held on a federal immigration detainer.
- Friendswood investigators obtained warrants and traveled to California on Sept. 9–10 to arrest alleged leaders Daman Preet Singh and Mandeep Singh, who face organized‑crime charges, have bonds set at $10 million and $5 million respectively, and remain in custody pending extradition.
- Police say members of the alleged group continued calling the victim after the first arrest, using caller ID spoofing to impersonate the Friendswood Police Department and even the detective assigned to the case.
- Friendswood officials credited help from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and the LAPD, noted this case echoes a March probe tied to about $2.8 million in losses, and urged families to warn seniors that law enforcement will never tell people to convert savings into gold for safekeeping.