Federal grand jury indicts two in gold bar scam conspiracy that targeted senior victims

Date: September 4, 2025

Contact: [email protected]

Louisville, KY - A federal grand jury in Louisville returned an indictment on August 5, 2025, charging a man and woman for their roles in a "gold bar scam" conspiracy that impacted senior victims in Kentucky and across the United States.

U.S. Attorney Kyle G. Bumgarner of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingerd, Cincinnati Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation, and Special Agent in Charge Olivia Olson of the FBI Louisville Field Office made the announcement.

According to court documents, Antonio Peña, who has ties to both Florida and New York, and Brandi Durst, of Florida, were charged with one count each of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Specifically, the indictment alleges that between April 2024 and July 2025, both Peña and Durst traveled around the United States and collected gold bars from victims who were convinced to liquidate their retirement funds and buy gold. Unindicted co-conspirators would deceive victims into believing that they were victims of a prior identity theft scam, and that purchasing gold would help protect their assets. Peña, Durst, and others posed as Federal Reserve agents or other government officials, supposedly picking up the gold for safekeeping, only to steal victims' savings and launder the proceeds.

On August 14, 2025, Peña and Durst were arraigned before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. If convicted, each defendant could face a maximum of up to 40 years in prison, in addition to owing fines and victim restitution. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

"As alleged in the indictment, these defendants preyed upon folks who were simply trying to secure their retirement nest egg," said U.S. Attorney Bumgarner. "They will be held accountable to the maximum extent of the law."

There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by IRS-CI and FBI with assistance from HSI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Corinne E. Keel is prosecuting the case.

This case was investigated and prosecuted as part of the National Elder Justice Task Force and the Kentucky Elder Justice Task Force. The Department of Justice's mission of its Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate the Department's enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nation's older adults. Kentucky's task force is comprised of investigators, prosecutors, and others at the local, state, and federal level with a common objective of protecting seniors across Kentucky.

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.