Two Chinese individuals admitted on April 1st to being involved in a transnational scam and money laundering scheme targeting elderly individuals in the United States and Canada. Fangzheng Wang from Massachusetts and Cynthia Jia Sun from Houston, Texas, both Chinese citizens holding green cards, pleaded guilty to charges of “conspiring to commit wire fraud” and are scheduled to be sentenced on July 8.
According to federal court documents in Rhode Island, the scam group contacted victims through computer pop-ups and phone calls, falsely claiming that their financial accounts were compromised or at risk, prompting victims to call the so-called “customer service personnel”. Subsequently, several accomplices impersonated representatives from banks or government agencies (including the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve), further intimidating victims to transfer funds through wire transfers or cryptocurrency.
Some victims were even instructed to withdraw cash or purchase gold bars and hand them over to the “couriers” posing as government officials, who claimed to be transferring the assets to a secure location. In reality, Wang and Sun were responsible for coordinating with other co-conspirators, personally going to victims’ residences to collect cash and gold, then passing them on to other members of the fraudulent network.
Law enforcement agencies have confirmed at least 300 victims in approximately 37 states, with known losses exceeding $5 million; additionally, one bank account is suspected to have laundered amounts reaching up to $16 million.
This case was jointly investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) and Homeland Security Investigators (HSI) under the framework of the Rhode Island Homeland Security Working Group. Prosecutors emphasized that this case is also part of the nationwide “Operation Get Back America,” aimed at combatting transnational crime and financial fraud networks.
Under the law, the charge of conspiring to commit wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.