Federal law enforcement and local authorities in Washington, D.C., arrested two men accused of posing as federal agents to execute an elaborate financial fraud scheme targeting an 85-year-old resident. Chu Lin, 50, of Fresh Meadows, New York, and Xiean Cheng, 42, of Cornelius, North Carolina, were taken into custody on July 8 after arriving at the victim’s residence to collect more than $200,000 in gold bars, according to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Both suspects were subsequently charged with second-degree financial fraud.
The Anatomy of a Phony Federal Investigation
The fraudulent operation began when the victim received unsolicited communications via email and telephone from individuals falsely claiming to be federal agents. According to investigators, the perpetrators warned the elderly resident that the funds housed in his bank accounts were in imminent jeopardy of being lost.
To safeguard his assets, the scammers instructed the victim to liquidate his accounts and convert the cash holdings into physical gold bars, which would then be handed over to government authorities for safekeeping.
A Gold Dealer Intercepts the $200,000 Ploy
Believing the directives were authentic, the victim initiated purchases totaling over $200,000 worth of gold bars. The transaction was intercepted before completion when a gold dealer recognized the warning signs of a targeted elder fraud scheme and intervened.
“Thinking that the scam was legitimate, the victim attempted to purchase over $200,000 worth of gold bars and was alerted by the gold dealer that he was being scammed,” the Metropolitan Police Department stated in a public release.
Law Enforcement Stakeout Snares Suspects
Following the intervention, the gold dealer immediately notified both the FBI and the MPD’s Financial and Cyber Crimes Unit. Law enforcement agencies coordinated a response for when the suspects attempted to collect the assets.
Officers assigned to the MPD’s Violent Crime Suppression Division staked out the victim’s home and arrested Lin and Cheng when they arrived to retrieve the gold bars.
