Rebecca C. Lutzko United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
A federal grand jury has indicted two men on charges of defrauding elderly residents in Northeast Ohio, amounting to thousands of dollars. The victims are located in Cleveland Heights, Willoughby, Canton, and Warren.
The indictment reveals that Jinrong Shi, 28, from New York City, and Jiyang Zhong, 27, a Chinese national living in Little Neck, New York, were involved in scams targeting senior citizens with "grandparent" or "tech support" schemes during May and June 2024.
In tech support scams, victims are misled into believing their electronic devices or online accounts have been compromised. They are then convinced to pay for non-existent assistance. In grandparent scams, scammers impersonate law enforcement or authority figures to deceive elderly victims into thinking their grandchildren are in legal trouble. Victims are told they need to provide financial help immediately.
The indictment further states that after persuading the scam victims to withdraw cash from their bank accounts, Shi and Zhong worked with co-conspirators to collect it. They used “fraud callers” to obtain victims' addresses and other details. These details were passed on to “fraud couriers,” who met the victims to collect cash or valuables at their homes. To gain trust, fraudulent callers provided a password which couriers used for verification. Sometimes victims were instructed to mail cash to locations controlled by the conspirators. More than $201,000 was stolen from Ohio victims.
The proceeds from these fraudulent activities were allegedly laundered across state lines using various methods. Conspirators also routed funds through cryptocurrency account holders based in China.
Shi faces charges including conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and money laundering conspiracy with a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Zhong faces similar charges with the same potential sentence.
Sentences will be determined by the Court considering factors unique to each case such as prior criminal records and roles in the offense but will not exceed statutory maximums.
An indictment is only a charge and does not prove guilt; defendants are entitled to a fair trial where the government must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Cleveland Division and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian M. McDonough for the Northern District of Ohio with cooperation from local law enforcement agencies.
This case is part of efforts under the Elder Justice Initiative Program stemming from the Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act of 2017 (EAPPA), aiming at combating elder abuse and financial fraud against seniors.
For more information on elder abuse awareness or reporting suspected elder financial abuse visit tips.fbi.gov/home or justice.gov/elderjustice/financial-exploitation.
