Chinese nationals arrested in mail-fraud scams targeting Central Florida’s elderly
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Local and federal law enforcement teamed up to track down Chinese nationals who are targeting the elderly all over the country.
At a press conference on Tuesday in downtown Orlando, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe along with U.S. Postal Inspector-in-Charge Bladismir Rojo and Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith announced the arrests of Yongbo Li, 36; Huashan Lu, 62; and Yuxiang Zhao, 60. They are facing charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, which could land them in federal prison for up to 30 years, according to the press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
At the press conference, Kehoe said the scammers used intimidation tactics via email, phone, and text messages to convince the elderly victims to send thousands of dollars to PO Box addresses around Orlando and Winter Park. According to the charging documents, that money was then funneled back to China and Bahrain. One victim allegedly sent $240,000 to the scammers.
Kehoe said the accused would convince the victims that their personal information or financial accounts were compromised and that “immediate action” was needed to fix the issue. That immediate action was sending money orders, cashier’s checks, or cash.
In total, there are 28 victims, but police say that number is growing each day as new victims are discovered.
Officials say that these scams should be used as a cautionary tale, that you should be careful where you are sending money and check in with your older or vulnerable family members. Once that money is overseas, Kehoe said it becomes very hard to track and get back.
“Yes, we can arrest these people. Yes, we can indict them. Yes, we can charge them as criminals. But can we get the $200,000 back for some elderly person who lost it? That is a difficult thing to do,” Kehoe said.
WESH 2 asked if the scammers were working on behalf of the Chinese government or if the Chinese government was involved in any way. Kehoe said that is being looked into, but did not confirm the Chinese government’s involvement.
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