SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – New federal court documents paint a clearer picture of how Abdul Mohammed, 32, allegedly convinced a Rapid City woman to give him more than $100,000 in money and gold.
The federal case began with a series of threatening phone calls in September of 2023. The indictment says Mohammed and a woman posed as several different people including local law enforcement. In one of the calls, they allegedly demanded the victim send $10,000 to someone named “Billy Parker” at an address in New Jersey. The victim was afraid she’d be arrested, so she withdrew money from her bank accounted and sent it.
That same day she got another call, from someone claiming to be with the Federal Trade Commission who said it was not enough money; and that she needed to covert $100,000 into gold at Dakota Gold & Precious Metals or she would be arrested. She was told to drop it in the backseat of an SUV.
But it didn’t end there.
The victim received another call telling her to get $95,000 in gold coins at Riddles Jewelry. However this time Pennington County law enforcement was aware of the situation, intercepted the transaction, and arrested Mohammed.
Mohammed was arrested on state charges in 2023 for the same incident. The most recent charges are federal charges. KELOLAND News spoke with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office following the 2023 arrest.
“That is a pretty significant amount. I’ve been in this business for a long time with law enforcement. And when I was doing property crime several years ago a large amount would be like, 15 to 20 or $30,000 range. So this is pretty significant. $100,000 is a lot,” Sgt. Jason Mitzel, Criminal Investigations Division at Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, said in 2023.
After Mohammed’s arrest, law enforcement learned that the other person involved were sending messages through WhatsApp about how to scam the victim. The other person charged was arrested in Massachusetts. Her case is also making its way through federal court.
Both defendants are not residents of South Dakota.
