ORLANDO, Fla. – Three Chinese nationals could face lengthy federal prison sentences after authorities accused them of taking part in an alleged fraud operation that stole more than $2 million from older victims.
Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said Yongbo Li, 36, Huashan Lu, 62, and Yuxiang Zhao, 60, have been arrested. Each is charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
“It’s now the marching orders coming from the Department of Justice that the tolerance level for fraud is zero,” U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe said. “Zero tolerance level for this fraud.”
Speaking Tuesday during a news conference at his downtown Orlando office, Kehoe outlined the allegations detailed in a 66-page criminal complaint.
Kehoe said prosecutors believe the defendants preyed on victims by pretending to represent legitimate companies, banks, government offices and other trusted organizations, using those false identities to build credibility and persuade people to send money.
According to investigators, many of the victims were seniors who were allegedly tricked into mailing cashier’s checks, money orders or cash to post office boxes in the Orlando area.
Kehoe said 28 victims have been identified so far, adding that for many of them, the financial damage was permanent. “For most of these people, their money was gone forever,” he said.
The alleged scam did not rely on a single script, Kehoe said, but on shifting stories, pressure and manipulation designed to convince victims to comply.
“They were told that their Apple Pay account had been used to purchase pornography in China, that the victims’ social security number was compromised so the victim should liquidate his or her financial accounts and buy cashiers’ checks to hold the funds for safekeeping,” Kehoe said.
In one instance, according to the criminal complaint, a woman was told her social security number was compromised, prompting her to be connected to a man claiming to be a United States Secret Service agent.
The man instructed the victim–referred to as M.D. in the complaint–to liquidate her funds and complete a cashier’s check for the United States Treasury “to hold the funds for safekeeping.”
Investigators said M.D. withdrew and sent more than $259,000 via Cashier’s checks to companies owned by the defendants.
Kehoe said other suspects have not been apprehended because they are in China. One of those suspects is an American citizen, according to Kehoe.
Investigators are currently trying to claw back the victims’ money that went offshore.
