Two Chinese men in New York were arrested and charged for defrauding elderly in Ohio of more than $200,000
Two Chinese men from New York were charged in Cleveland with setting up a scam to defraud the elderly in northeastern Ohio (OHIO), defrauding a total of more than $200,000. The two Chinese men from New York were charged with ten counts and face up to 20 years in prison.
According to the recently unsealed indictment, Jinrong Shi, a 28-year-old Chinese man from New York, and Jiyang Zhong, a 27-year-old Chinese man who reported living in Little Neck, New York, were members of a criminal network. The network carried out “tech support” and “grandparent” scams against the elderly in Cleveland Heights, Willoughby, Canton and Warren, Ohio in May and June 2024.
In the “tech support” scam, the victim will be induced by the scammer to mistakenly believe that their electronic device or online account has been hacked. The victim is then persuaded to solve the problem by paying a fee.
In the “grandparent” scam, scammers impersonate law enforcement or other administrative personnel to convince an elderly person that their grandchild is in legal trouble. The victim is told that they must pay money immediately to help their grandchild get out of legal trouble.
According to the indictment, after the victim was persuaded to withdraw cash from his bank account, the two defendants would work with other co-conspirators to collect the cash. The two defendants collected the victim’s address and other information through fraudulent phone calls, and these details were then given to “fraud couriers” who were responsible for meeting with the victim and collecting cash or other valuables at or near the victim’s home.
To further gain the victim’s trust, the defendants would also give the victim a password over the phone, and the victim was told that the courier must provide the same password to valid the transaction. In some cases, the victim was also instructed to mail the cash to the accomplice’s location. In total, the two defendants defrauded more than $200,000 from victims in Ohio.
The proceeds from the scam were laundered across state lines in a variety of ways. To conceal the source of the funds, the criminal network would transfer funds through cryptocurrency account holders in China.
Defendants Shi Jinrong and Zhong Jiyang were jointly charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and concealing money laundering, and face up to 20 years in prison.
