Feds: Man used stolen tax refund to buy $474,000 in gold
Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News
Published August 10, 2006 at midnight
A California man has been charged with stealing a tax refund check and using the money to buy more than $474,000 worth of gold coins from a Denver firm, the U.S. Attorney's office announced today.
Herman Alphonso Regusters, Jr., 47, of Oakland, Calif., was arrested Aug. 4 at the Los Angeles airport. He is charged with conspiracy and two counts of money laundering and faces up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to twice the amount of the stolen check for each count if convicted.
Authorities said that in 2002, Regusters and others received a check for $474,150.26 that the U.S. Treasury Department had mistakenly issued to Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Regusters then contacted Centennial Precious Metals, Inc. in Denver about purchasing gold coins. He identified himself as a representative of Sinai Temple, which he said was a division of a fake company called Sinai Temple Investment.
Regusters and at least one woman then arranged for 1,408 gold coins to be shipped to a California address and for the check to be deposited at the Bank of Cherry Creek, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
Law enforcement officials were then contacted. A federal grand jury in Denver indicted Regusters last month.
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