PROVIDENCE – Eight people have been indicted by the U.S. District Court on fraud charges, after allegedly operating a transnational fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims in the United States, including Rhode Island, and Canada, acting U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island announced Wednesday.
Four of the eight defendants are already in federal custody in Rhode Island, while two more are waiting to be extradited from New York. Meanwhile, the other two are not yet in custody, with warrants being issued for their arrest.
Currently, and upward of 300 victims across 37 states, including several in Rhode Island, who have been defrauded in the alleged conspiracy have been identified, according to the Department of Justice. The victims are believed to have suffered more than $5 million in known losses. However, investigators said they have identified a bank account tied to the scheme with $16 million in additional suspected fraud proceeds that appear to have been laundered.
The DOJ reports that members of the alleged fraud ring sent pop-up messages to elderly people's computers, which appeared to have originated from well-known technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Paypal per the 26-page federal indictment.
The messages informed the victims that their computer had been hacked, that their financial accounts had been compromised, or that they had been identified as the target of a criminal investigation, according to the DOJ.
Those pop-up messages would redirect the victims to another fraudster posing as a "live agent," who would then tell them that their financial assets were at risk. The fraudsters would then assure the victims that they could assist in protecting those assets.
From there, the victims were then connected with scammers who would impersonate representatives from the victim's financial institutions or government agencies like the Federal Reserve Bank and Federal Trade Commission.
The victims would be instructed to send their money to the scammers via a wire or cryptocurrency transfer in order to "protect their assets," according to the DOJ. Some victims were even asked to purchase gold bars, which were then handed over to one of the scammers posing as a government courier.
Those indicted are:
- Nanjun Song 27, of Brooklyn, N.Y,, a Chinese national who has allegedly overstayed a B2 visa, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The defendant is detained in federal custody in Rhode Island.
- Jirui Liu, 23, of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, a citizen of China and Canada, whose U.S. visa has expired, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The defendant is detained in federal custody in Rhode Island.
- Xiang Li, 37, of Flushing, N.Y., a Chinese national and lawful permanent U.S. resident, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The defendant was detained in New York and is being transferred to Rhode Island.
- Xuehai Sun, 37, of Flushing N.Y., a Chinese national and lawful permanent U.S. resident, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was arrested today in New York and is expected to appear later today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
- Fangzheng Wang, 24, of Westborough, Mass., a Chinese national, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The defendant is detained in federal custody in Rhode Island.
- Cynthia Jia Sun, 25, of Houston, Texas, a naturalized United States citizen born in China, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The defendant is in federal custody in Houston and is awaiting transfer to Rhode Island.
- Zhenyang Xin, 25, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a Chinese national, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. An arrest warrant has been issued for the defendant.
- Wing Kit Ho, 22, of Markham, Ontario, Canada, a Canadian citizen born in Hong Kong, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. An arrest warrant has been issued for the defendant.
The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations Providence and IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the Rhode Island Homeland Security Task Force – a multiagency unit targeting top-tier drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational crime rings.
HSI Providence led the probe with support from police in Narragansett, East Providence, New York and Texas, along with agents from HSI offices in New England, New York, Houston and Los Angeles.
The case is a part of Operation Take Back America, a DOJ initiative targeting illegal immigration, violent crime, and transnational cartels. It unites resources from the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
