San Francisco police are taking a leaf out of their Richmond counterpart’s book and targeting criminals peddling fake Chinese gold.
Last month, Richmond Mounties arrested and charged two Chinese nationals after a fake Chinese gold scheme resurfaced once again.
And this week, San Francisco’s District Attorney, George Gascón, kicked off a public education campaign to make sure the city’s diverse communities were aware of the scam, making specific reference to the work of Richmond RCMP.
Both cities are renowned for their large Chinese communities, thus making them easy targets for criminals involved in the scam.
“This is a special time of year for the city’s thriving Chinese community, but it’s also a time of year where we’ve seen scams targeting this population occur with more frequency,” said Gascón.
“The Chinese Gold Scam has been attempted in San Francisco unsuccessfully thus far, and my hope is that through public education we can ensure it stays that way.”
Gascon’s office has been working with law enforcement and prosecution personnel across the globe to combat these types of affinity scams that prey on our immigrant communities.
The modus operandi of the scammers has been consistent throughout the world, and the “gold” props they employ to deceive their victims appear similar.
The scam begins by either a phone call or a visit to the victim by two to three suspects. The language used has been Mandarin and evidence suggests the victims are selectively targeted because of their perceived wealth, since most of them have been successful business owners, professionals or public personalities who advertise or are known in the Chinese language media.
The Richmond News reported last month how the RCMP was contacted by the most recent victim, who alleged he purchased supposed “priceless” gold Chinese artifacts from two males before discovering the gold was fake.
The Richmond RCMP Economic Crime Unit (ECU) was engaged to investigate and quickly linked it to a second reported incident in Surrey.
By linking these incidents, along with assistance from outside agencies, Richmond RCMP ECU was ultimately able to identify the two suspects associated to both alleged frauds.
The investigation involved Canada Border Services Agency and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
The two suspects were arrested and on Jan. 6, two counts each of fraud over $5,000 were laid against 52-year-old Dejin Xu and 49-year-old Zhong Yang. Both are Chinese nationals and currently remain in custody.
This scheme first surfaced in Richmond in 2010 and again in 2015.
In 2015, Richmond RCMP arrested and charged a Chinese national, Bao Sheng Zhong, for a similar scheme involving fake, ancient Chinese gold Buddha figurines and ingots. Zhong was ultimately convicted of fraud and deported back to China.
The RCMP recommends:
*Having all the gold pieces individually tested by an independent testing facility;
*Having legal counsel involved to protect the buyer and seller.
