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Two men accused of posing as federal agents were arrested after allegedly trying to scam an 85-year-old Washington, D.C., man into handing over more than $200,000 in gold bars, police said Friday.
The Metropolitan Police Department said Chu Lin, 50, of Fresh Meadows, New York, and Xiean Cheng, 42, of Cornelius, North Carolina, were arrested after allegedly showing up at the victim’s home to collect the gold.
Both men were charged with second-degree financial fraud.
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According to police, the scheme began July 8 when scammers contacted the victim by email and later by phone while posing as federal agents.
The scammers allegedly told the victim that funds in his bank account were “in jeopardy of being lost” unless he secured the money by purchasing gold bars and turning them over.
Believing the scheme was legitimate, the victim attempted to purchase more than $200,000 worth of gold bars before the gold dealer recognized the apparent scam and alerted him, police said.
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“Thinking that the scam was legitimate, the victim attempted to purchase over $200,000 worth of gold bars and was alerted by the gold dealer that he was being scammed,” police said.
The gold dealer then alerted MPD’s Financial and Cyber Crimes Unit and the FBI, according to authorities.
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When the alleged scammers later arrived at the victim’s home to retrieve the gold bars, officers with MPD’s Violent Crime Suppression Division arrested Lin and Cheng, police said.