This Man Stole $9 Million in Gold Bars on the Upper West Side, Police Say

Detailed summary

The victim, who believed his financial assets had been compromised, was the target of an online fraud scheme and believed he had to buy the precious metal, the authorities said.

The meeting point had been arranged: near 81st Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side.

It was there, in broad daylight, that two men approached each other on a Wednesday in April 2025. One of the men, a 67-year-old New Yorker, transported a bag of $9 million in gold bars, each one the size of a chocolate bar, that the police said someone online had instructed him to buy and hand over.

The man did exactly as he was told, believing that he could secure his financial assets, which an alert on his computer had led to believe were compromised, the authorities said.

The other man took sack of gold and fled on foot, according to the police. The first man had been the victim of an online fraud.

Now, more than a year and a half after the deceit, the New York Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying the man who ran off with the gold bars in connection with a grand larceny investigation.

Investigators this week released security camera footage and images of the man suspected of taking the bars.

Isaac Kahan, the owner of Bullion Trading LLC, a gold and silver dealer in Manhattan’s Diamond District, wondered about the sheer logistics that were involved in the heist.

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