Two men have been indicted in a complex nationwide fraud scheme specifically targeting hundreds of elderly individuals, with over $18 million potentially swiped and more than $5 million confirmed stolen from victims, announced U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton. Jingbin Jiang was apprehended in Staten Island, with Su Jian Liu, also known as "Fatty" or "Ah Pang," still on the run, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York.
The indictment details a deceitful operation beginning around 2023 until about July 2025, exploiting the trust and security of elderly citizens across the states, spanning New York to California. Caught this morning, Jiang is set to face a U.S. Magistrate Judge, while Liu's absence remains notable. "Taking advantage of our elderly after they have worked so hard to save and contributed so much to our city and this country is heartless and despicable," Clayton stated regarding the scheme, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
FBI Assistant Director Christopher G. Raia highlighted the cruel methods used by the suspects, allegedly utilizing extortionate tactics, exploiting victims' fears of arrest and bankruptcy to coerce them into parting with their savings. Detailed in the allegations, the scheme usually kicked off with a deceptive pop-up message on victims' computers, leading them to contact the fraudsters under the guise of needing to protect their assets from imagined threats. This typically set a scene involving false narratives, which resulted in either cash withdrawals, gold purchases, or other financial transactions under the pretence of security measures.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch condemned the accused for crafting a nationwide fraud network, systematically siphoning the life savings of unsuspecting elderly individuals through carefully constructed stories. Often, victims were instructed to surrender their cash or gold to couriers, who were actually directly involved in the scheme, under the false assurance that it would be securely kept by a consumer protection agency. Stolen funds were distributed among co-conspirators and were partially converted into cryptocurrency, presumably to evade detection and ease overseas transfers. Jiang and Liu, who supervised these couriers, played pivotal roles in coordinating these pick-ups and subsequent distribution of the stolen funds.
Jiang is facing charges of wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, with each count having a potential maximum sentence of 20 years and five years in prison, respectively. Victims and individuals with information about the scheme are strongly encouraged to file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. The Department of Justice's statement iterates that the charges are accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
