Conservatives were fleeced $185 million by gold scam

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Gold bars created by Agnico-Eagle MInes Limited Credits: Agnico-Eagle/Wikipedia

Conservative and religious investors have been fleeced by a gold scam purportedly run by two Los Angeles men and their companies, fraudulently raising nearly $180 million, according to regulators on Friday.

Lucas Asher and Simon Batashvili have been accused of defrauding 1,600 investors over a three year period beginning in 2016. Both individuals are tied to two companies, Metals.com and Barrick Capital Inc., according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as well as 30 state regulators.

The CFTC and state regulators filed a lawsuit against Asher and Batashvili and the two companies in the federal court in Dallas, Texas. Another company identified as Tower Equity was also charged as a relief defendant.

In the lawsuit, regulators alleged that the defendants falsely pitched to securities investors that the federal government had plans to seize their assets unless converted into precious metals.

As a result, victims liquidated their retirement accounts to purchase gold and silver at astronomical markups between 100% and 300%.