Two Georgia men accused of attempting to defraud an 80-year-old Mississippi man out of $50,000 are being held without bond after facing federal charges. Both men are now charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court.

Nooruddin Bhai Nasruddin, 52, and Chaturali Alauda Roy, 69, were arrested on Sept. 5 by the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office.

Nasruddin and Roy were initially arrested on state charges of exploitation of a vulnerable adult, false pretense, and conspiracy to commit false pretense. After a Monday morning federal court appearance, they were ordered detained pending further hearings. Both men waived their rights to preliminary and detention hearings and will remain in federal custody until indictment.

The scam began when the elderly victim received a call from someone posing as an Amazon representative. The caller falsely claimed the victim’s accounts had been compromised after a supposed $4,000 purchase. Over a series of calls, scammers instructed the man to withdraw almost all his money from the bank, pack it into a cardboard box, and prepare it for collection by a “federal agent.”

The victim became suspicious and brought the cash to the sheriff’s office. Deputies arrested Nasruddin and Roy when they arrived to collect the box of money.

If convicted, the men face up to 25 years in prison on the state charges and up to 30 years for the federal wire fraud conspiracy.

Read more about this case in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.