ST. LOUIS – In a brazen scheme to swindle elderly victims nationwide, three California residents have been federally indicted for their alleged roles in using Taiwanese passports, fraudulent immigration documents, and money mules to scam the elderly.
On May 8, Bowen Chen, 21, of Monterey Park, Jiacheng Chen, 19, of East San Gabriel, and Vianne Chen, a.k.a. Tingting T. Chen, 41, of unknown location, were added to an indictment in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. The indictment alleges that the trio, along with four other Californians, participated in a conspiracy to commit mail, bank, and wire fraud.
The scheme, which targeted older Americans with tech support fraud, romance fraud, and imposter schemes, relied on money mules to collect and deliver large amounts of cash to bank accounts. The indictment claims that Bowen Chen deposited approximately $1.3 million into a bank account, while Jiacheng Chen deposited around $615,000, and Vianne Chen deposited $440,000.
The investigation, led by Homeland Security Investigations, uncovered a complex web of deceit that involved the use of Taiwanese passports and fraudulent immigration documents to open student checking accounts. The money mules, including Yu-Chieh Huang, 22, of Chino Hills, were allegedly used to collect the cash and convert it into cashier’s checks that were deposited into a bank account.
According to the indictment, the scheme began with a pop-up ad that told an elderly Missouri man that his computer was infected with a virus. The couple was then falsely told that someone had been accessing child pornography through the computer and they would have to pay $88,000 to avoid prosecution. The couple gathered the money but got suspicious and contacted police, who arrested Huang.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracy Berry and Kyle Bateman.
If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps.
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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