Two individuals have been ordered detained in federal custody and charged in ongoing federal, state, and local law enforcement investigations into online scams targeting Rhode Island seniors, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
On September 26, Jirui Liu, 22, of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, appeared before a U.S. Magistrate, having been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering. It is alleged that he participated in a scheme that caused a 79-year-old man to turn over $35,000 in cash and gold bars valued at $130,000 to members of the conspiracy.
On September 23, 2024, Kush J. Patel, 22, of Bridgeport, CT, was ordered detained following his initial appearance in U.S. District Court, having been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering. It is alleged that Patel participated in a scam that defrauded a Rhode Islander of nearly $200,000.
As reflected in court documents in the matter of the United States v. Jiri Liu, while shopping online, a 79-year-old Narragansett man received a pop-up message that falsely claimed that he was under investigation for attempting to purchase child pornography. He was directed to call a telephone number provided to him to address the issue.
When he called the number, scammers falsely told him that his Social Security number had been compromised, that he was involved in money laundering activity, and that the government was attempting to garnish his assets. The scammers then put the victim in touch with co-conspirators who impersonated federal authorities and a bank employee who instructed the victim to turn over his assets to the government so that they could be secured during the investigation.
It is alleged that as part of the scheme, in early September, an unknown member of the conspiracy travelled to the victim’s home, where the victim provided him with $35,000 in cash. Several days later, at the direction of the conspirators, the victim purchased $135,000 in gold bars and delivered them to members of the conspiracy.
On September 24, 2024, the scammers attempted to arrange for the victim to deliver an additional $160,000 in gold bars. Before that occurred, however, the victim contacted law enforcement to report that he had been scammed. Homeland Security Investigations arranged for the production of fake gold bars, which were provided to the victim for the third delivery. HSI agents surveilled the delivery as it was made, as is alleged, to Liu, who was arrested outside of the victim’s home.Â
In a separate investigation that resulted in the arrest of Kush J. Patel, HSI joined Tiverton, RI, Police after learning that a 72-year-old individual was the likely victim of online scammers. That investigation determined that a separate victim responded to an online pop-up message claiming that his computer contained a virus and was falsely told that his identity had been compromised and that drug trafficking, money laundering, and child pornography had been associated with his name.Â
The victim was advised that he would need to speak with a Federal Trade Commission agent about the matter, at which point this purported agent told the victim that, to resolve the issue privately, his assets would need to be frozen. Over the next several weeks, the fake FTC agent directed the victim to make three purchases of gold bullion from a specific gold dealer in New York via wire transfer and that the gold was to be delivered to the victim’s home.
As a result of these instructions, the victim made three purchases of gold bullion totalling $96,093.96, $101,233.79, and $165,762.32, respectively. The first two deliveries of bullion were picked up by an unknown member of the conspiracy.
On September 21, at the direction of law enforcement, the victim substituted the contents of the third package before meeting with and delivering the package to an unknown individual, later identified allegedly as Patel. The delivery occurred under law enforcement surveillance in a restaurant parking lot. Patel was followed as he left the parking lot and was arrested following a traffic stop by Connecticut State Police.
