Five Chinese nationals allegedly participated in a complex fraud and money laundering scheme that resulted in losses of more than $27 million to over 2,000 seniors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The San Diego Elder Justice Task Force investigated the case. Its member agencies include the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, Carlsbad Police Department, San Diego Police Department and the California Highway Patrol.
During a coordinated law enforcement operation Wednesday in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, about 60 federal, state and local law enforcement officials arrested four defendants – Zhao Wang, 40, of Henderson, Nev.; Jiandong Chen, 40, of Pomona; Jun Li, 40, of West Covina, and Xin Wang. 36, of San Gabriel – while searching their homes.
The fifth defendant, Youfei Gong, 29, arrested on April 9 at his home in San Gabriel, is being held on state charges.
According to the indictment and court documents, the five defendants and their co-conspirators operated a multinational organized fraud ring targeting elderly victims throughout the U.S. from 2021 through June of this year.
The indictment said conspirators contacted victims through unsolicited pop-up ads, emails and phone calls designed to persuade victims to contact scam call centers in India.
The conspirators, prosecutors said, then worked to build trust with victims, and in many cases, had victims install remote desktop software that they used to gain access to victims’ computers.
They allegedly adopted a number of guises – as technical support, government and bank workers – to induce victims to send money to other members of the conspiracy, including the five defendants charged in the indictment.
At the direction of conspirators, according to court documents, victims sent wire transfers or cash in express mail packages to locations throughout Southern California, Nevada and elsewhere.
The defendants provided fake names and addresses corresponding with retailers, including CVS Pharmacy locations, where they picked up packages, allegedly using fake IDs.
One defendant, Xin Wang, allegedly sent a text reading, “What I do is picking up packages from CVS. Contain cash. Laundering money for Indian scam syndicate. Large syndicate. My bosses launder over one million US dollars in a week.”
The defendants face conspiracy charges relating to mail and wire fraud and money laundering.
“The FBI remains resolute in our commitment to disrupt and dismantle foreign-based fraud schemes that prey on our older Americans,” Stacey Moy, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s San Diego Field Office. “We will continue to work side by side with our law enforcement partners to deter and defeat organized fraud rings, no matter where they are located.”
