5 Men Accused In Greenwich Bank Fraud Scheme: Police

GREENWICH, CT — Five New York City men were arrested and charged in connection with a bank fraud scheme in the central Greenwich business district on April 26, according to the Greenwich Police Department.

Jiening Cao and Andy Wang, both 24; Yu Chen, 34; Xing Jiang, 38; and Guo Ping Lin, 48, all of Brooklyn, N.Y., were arrested last week after police responded to Greenwich Avenue on a report of suspicious activity involving transactions at a bank, police said in arrest reports.

Cao, Wang, Chen and Jiang each face possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy to commit forgery, identity theft and criminal impersonation charges, arrest reports show. Their bonds were set at $75,000.

Lin faces the same charges in addition to second-degree identity theft, criminal impersonation, and second-degree forgery, police said. He was given a bond of $100,000.

On April 26 around 2:21 p.m., the five men were detained and positively identified by plainclothes officers and bike patrol units who were working in the downtown Greenwich area.

Police said Lin, in cooperation with the four other arrestees, criminally impersonated someone else using a counterfeit People's Republic of China passport in an attempt to withdraw $5,000.

A search of the car the five men arrived to Greenwich in found a white, powdery substance which tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, police said.

Additionally, officers found two People's Republic of China passports with different victim information but had photos of Lin, police noted.

Other documents with personal identifiable information and mail, which appeared to be obtained through mail that, were found in the car, police said.

All five men were unable to post their bonds. They're scheduled to appear in Stamford Superior Court on May 10.