Gold investment with Beverly Hills company ends with loss of thousands of dollars, customers say

A Beverly Hills company that converts retirement accounts into precious metals vanished, and customers fear their savings have gone with it.

An ABC7 investigation found the once highly-rated company, Oxford Gold Group, has a slew of complaints against it and the Better Business Bureau has revoked its accreditation.

Grant Olsen, a viewer who tipped off Eyewitness News to the story, fears he'll never see his money again.

"It's so much money, it's mind boggling," said Olsen, adding that the situation has led to sleepless nights.

"Oh, it was all of my retirement, all of it. I took $200,000 out of my principal 401K and put it into this supposedly gold IRA," says Olsen.

He says he invested the money after hearing commercials about Oxford Gold Group. He says he did an online search and found it had good reviews.

But a few months ago, he received notices from a depository company that told him the physical gold never arrived. He says he was able to speak to the company CEO and was told not to worry.

"And he would always call me right back. I would leave him a text message, and he would call within 5 minutes, and so... him just calling me back kind of put me at ease," he said.

But soon he felt something wasn't right. He received a notice the depository company wasn't doing business with Oxford Gold anymore.

He says he was so worried, he went to the company office on Wilshire Boulevard.

He posted pictures on his Facebook page of what he found - an office that was closed and appeared to be empty, and a monitor that boasted positive reviews.

"It was like abandoned. They had a like a a UPS package on the desk, and that was it, and everything was pretty much as clean as a whistle," Olsen said.

On Oxford Gold's website, we found a number of bad reviews, most of them within the last three months. Many of the posts contain phrases like "stole my money," "Stolen Funds," and "Oxford gold is a scam."

On the Better Business Bureau website, it says the company's accreditation is revoked. It claims there are 95 complaints filed against the business.

Olsen worries the company and his money are gone. Now, he's worried he wont be able to retire at all.

"I work full time, and I hope to work full time till I'm 70 or till I'm 75 or drop dead," Olsen said.

Eyewitness News called and emailed the company several times, including the CEO and others, asking for a comment or statement about the allegations. So far, they have not been returned.