Couple Pleads In RI To International Fraud Conspiracy Targeting Elderly: Feds

PROVIDENCE, RI — A couple pleaded guilty in Rhode Island federal court to taking part in a scheme to defraud the elderly.

Fangzheng Wang, 25, and Cynthia Jia Sun, also 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

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"According to court documents, Wang and Sun were part of a transnational fraud scheme targeting elderly victims in the United States and Canada," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a media relase.

"Members of the conspiracy used pop-up messages and telephone calls falsely claiming that the victims’ financial accounts had been compromised or were at risk," the release said. "The pop-up message directed victims to call a 'live agent,' who informed them that their financial assets were at risk or could be garnished, but that the agent could assist in protecting their assets."

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"The conspirators posed as representatives of financial institutions and government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Reserve Bank, and told their victims to send funds via wire transfers and cryptocurrency into accounts they controlled," according to the release.

"Other victims were directed to withdraw cash or purchase gold bars with withdrawn cash and provide the cash or gold bars to a purported government courier, after being told that the courier would transfer the cash or gold to a secure government location until the issue with the victims’ accounts was resolved," the release said.

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"Wang and Sun participated in the scheme by communicating and coordinating with co-defendants to make pickups of cash and gold from victims, traveling to the victims’ residences and picking up the cash and gold from the victims, and thereafter transporting and transferring the victims’ cash and gold to other conspiracy members," according to the release.

When Wang and Sun were indicted, law enforcement had identified about 300 individuals in at least 37 states, including several in Rhode Island, who had been defrauded, the release said.

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"To date, victims of the conspiracy group of which Wang and Sun were members are estimated to have suffered known losses exceeding $5 million," according to the release. "However, investigators have identified a bank account through which approximately $16 million in additional suspected fraud funds appear to have been laundered."

Wang, a resident of Westborough, Massachusetts, and Sun, a resident of Houston, were scheduled to be sentenced July 8. They face up to 20 years in federal prison and fines of up to $250,000.

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