Burlington gold scam, couple loses $600K; 2 suspects charged
Burlington gold scam, couple loses $600,000
In just under two months, from March to May, a Burlington, Wisconsin couple got scammed out of nearly $600,000 before deputies caught suspects. They were told they needed to send gold through courier packages to get themselves absolved of an identity theft investigation.
BURLINGTON, Wis. - In just under two months, from March to May, a Burlington couple got scammed out of nearly $600,000 before deputies caught suspects.
Gold scam details
The backstory:
They were told they needed to send gold through courier packages to get themselves absolved of an identity theft investigation.
According to criminal complaints, those victims believed they were communicating with and sending this gold to someone from the Federal Trade Commission.
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At a controlled package handoff with the victims at a gas station in Kenosha County, Racine deputies caught two suspects: Reese Lightner and Carissa Snow.
According to the complaint, Snow and Lightner had driven up from Florida and were going to get paid to deliver the package of gold from the victims.
The criminal complaint says Lightner indicated they didn’t know what was in the package, where they would deliver it, or the identity of the person that coordinated the pickup.
In court
What To Know:
Snow’s defense argued in a way that would show she was partially forced into the scam or was not fully aware of what she was doing.
"What knowledge, if any, did Ms. Snow possess regarding what was happening with respect to these packages?" Attorney Erin Preston, Snow's defense, asked Racine County Investigator Andrew Sparks.
"What I knew, based off what Mr. Lightner said, was that they had limited knowledge of what was in the packages," Sparks said.
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What's next:
The court commissioner still found probable cause for Snow to stand trial, and she is expected back in court on Dec. 7.
For Lightner, the state is still working to find him an attorney.
Both are being federally prosecuted as part of a bigger gold bar scam that has happened across the U.S. with other suspects.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from the Racine County Sheriff's Office, Racine County criminal complaints and court records.