Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Three men accused of any elaborate gift card scam targeting older adults and other victims were found guilty Tuesday of one count each of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Bowen Hu, a 28-year-old Hacienda Heights man, Tiaran Shi, a 29-year-old Diamond Bar man, and Blade Bai, A 35-year-old El Monte man, schemed to launder the proceeds of the scams which involved Target gift cards to supposedly resolve various financial problems, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Bai was charged with a second count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which he committed after being released after his initial arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors estimate that the trio of defendants laundered $2.5 million in Target gift cards from June 2019 to November 2020. Telephone scammers overseas lied to their victims, claiming that purchasing the gift cards would fix nonexistent problems, such as arrest warrants, identity theft, tech support issues and compromised financial accounts. The victims would buy one, or sometimes more, Target gift cards typically in increments of $500 and then were instructed to read the card numbers and access codes over the phone to the scammers, according to the US Attorney’s Office. “Bai, Hu and Shi obtained more than 5,000 gift cards from a group of unknown persons in China that called itself the “Magic Lamp” and sold gift card information via the online messaging application WeChat,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. WeChat was also used to coordinate the distribution of the gift cards to “runners” who then used the gift cards in Los Angeles and Orange counties to purchase electronics, other gift cards and more, working to conceal the fraud. Within days of his initial arrest in November 2020, Bai was back in money laundering, again using Target gift cards. “Bai offered to introduce an associate to someone who bought merchandise from him, and thereafter asked the associate to help him liquidate approximately $36,000 of Target gift cards. With Bai unwilling to be paid directly for the sale, two accomplices together arranged a deal in which they sold, to the customer, Bai’s gift cards for approximately 90 cents on the dollar,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. He was arrested February 2022 and has remained in custody ever since. Hu and Shi were taken into custody immediately after their guilty verdicts. A fourth co-conspirator, 60-year-old Yan Fu of Chino Hills, was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in September 2022. He has also been ordered to pay $48,073 in restitution. Bai, Hu and Shi will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each money laundering conspiracy count. They are scheduled to be sentenced January 26, 2024. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor SANTA ANA - A certified nursing assistant was sentenced to life in prison January 13 for committing sex acts on several severely disabled children while filming them.
Steve Jackson Rodriguez, 38, a Pomona resident, previously pleaded guilty September 2022 to two counts of obtaining custody of a minor for purposes of producing child pornography, five counts of production of child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the Justice Department. Rodriguez was arrested August 21, 2021. Rodriguez committed what US District Judge John Holcomb called “unspeakable acts” from January 2016 to May 2020, producing images and videos with four children at an Inland Empire group home where he was employed at the time. Three of the children are severely disabled, according to the Justice Department. One of his victims was just 6 years old when he started the abuse. He began recording the acts two years later. A restitution hearing is scheduled for March 10. Rodriguez sent the explicit images and video to two of his co-workers. In a separate trial, Azusa man Cyr Dino Banguguilan, 36, and 23-year-old Baldwin Park man Miguel Bocardo were found guilty of one count each of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to the Justice Departmentl Both co-workers are scheduled for a February 24 sentencing and face anywhere from five to 20 years in federal prison, according to the Justice Department. The investigation was spearheaded by the Homeland Security Investigations as part of the Los Angeles Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Assisting were the United States Postal Inspection Service, FBI, Baldwin Park Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Pomona Police Department and Burbank Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Scott M. Lara and Catharine A. Richmond of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – Four men are slated to appear in court this month on a one-count indictment in which they are accused of conspiring to launder proceeds of wire fraud that were stored on Target gift cards.
Chinese nationals Bowen Hu, a 26-year-old Hacienda Heights man, and Tairan Shi, a 27-year-old Diamond Bar man, were arrested September 28, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. U.S. citizen and 33-year-old El Monte man Blade Bai and Chinese national Yan Fu, a 58-year-old Chino Hills man, were previously issued a summons to appear in federal court after having been arrested November 17, 2020. Bai pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering having been named in a criminal information filing. All four men are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. “The indictment alleges that Bai, Hu and Shi obtained more than 5,000 gift cards from a group that called itself the “Magic Lamp” and sold gift card information via an online messenger application,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement. Investigators estimate the four men laundered more than $2.5 million in gift cards from June 2019 to November 2020. The four men often targeted, no pun intended, older adults across the U.S. and induced them to purchase the gift cards based on various fraud schemes, including posing as government officials demanding the purchase of gift cards to resolve an issue; and tech support scams, in which victims pay a substantial amount through gift cards to fix a computer issue, or be granted account access, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Bai, Hu and Shi oversaw the distribution of the gift cards to “runners,” whom included Fu. The cards were used primarily on Los Angeles and Orange counties to buy electronics, more gift cards and other items, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Bai, Hu and Shi obtained gift card numbers from the Magic Lamp, often the same day the victims purchased the cards, and Fu travelled to up to 17 Target stores in a single day to buy the merchandise. Bai resold the merchandise and used some of the cash to pay the Magic Lamp, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “This case offers an important reminder to consumers that gift cards are for presents to friends and loved ones – they should never be used for payments to any government or corporate entity,” said Acting United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison in a written statement. “Don’t be fooled by callers claiming to be with a government agency, a bank or any other institution demanding that you purchase gift cards. There is no reason to purchase a gift card to resolve a problem with an account, your Social Security number or a supposed criminal case,” Wilkison added. All four men face a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted as charged. This case was investigated by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. Countless other local agencies across the U.S. assisted with the investigation, including the Brea Police Department, Fontana Police Department and Gardena Police Department. |
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