WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP, Pa. – A New Jersey man will serve time in state prison for his role in an extortion scheme that defrauded a 74-year-old Lehigh County resident of more than $500,000 in gold and nearly $91,000 in cash.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced the sentence Friday following a hearing before Judge Thomas M. Caffrey.

Hirtik Hemchand Khatri, 25, of Lawrence Township, New Jersey, was ordered to serve 12 months minus a day to 36 months in prison, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.

He previously pleaded guilty on Nov. 20, 2025, to felony charges of theft by extortion, theft by unlawful taking, and criminal use of a communication facility.

In addition to the prison term, Khatri was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay $688,372 in restitution to the victim.

On Feb. 3, 2025, Whitehall Township Police were contacted by a 74-year-old man whose name will not be released, authorities said. 

The man told police he had been the victim of a lengthy scam that resulted in a huge financial loss, according to the DA’s Office. 

The fraud began with an email to him about an allegedly fraudulent charge on the victim’s PayPal account. 

He was told he would be responsible for the error and needed to repay PayPal by going to an area gas station with a Bitcoin kiosk to complete the transaction, according to authorities.

The scam continued with numerous calls each with a variation on the original theme that an error had been made and the victim had to repay the error

with cryptocurrency, gold, or cash, the DA’s Office said. 

The victim was told that if the payments were not made, he would be arrested and put in jail. This fear caused him to continue to make the payments.

Ultimately, the victim withdrew funds from his IRA and purchased over 200 gold bars worth almost $600,000 which were picked up from the victim by Khatri, according to the news release. 

Authorities say that a license plate reader was able to identify the car that Khatri was driving when he picked up the gold at the victim’s home. The victim then identified Khatri from a photo lineup.

This case was investigated by Whitehall Township Police Detective Lindsay Yetter, the Lehigh County Elder Abuse Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations in Allentown and Trenton, Homeland Security Investigation Agent Sean Crawford, Lawrence Township (NJ) Police and was prosected by Chief Deputy District Attorney Ramma R. Mineo.