Two Men in U.S. on Work Visas Arrested for Allegedly Attempting to Scam Auglaize County Residents

(Xinxing Chen and Yaolong Zhou)

Two people were arrested Tuesday and are accussed of scamming elderly residents in Auglaize County.

According to a release from the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office, an investgation was started Monday June 16 after a resident reported being scammed out of a large sum of money.

Scammers contacted the victim and convinced them that their bank was compromised and the money was no longer safe there.

The victim was talked into withdrawing a large amount of cash, and it was arranged that someone would come, pick it up and give a cashier’s check for the amount.

A suspect later went to the victim’s home and took control of the cash, while also trying to talk the victim to arrange another withdraw.

Family members got involved at that point, and an investigation was initiated by by the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Grand Lake Task Force, F.B.I. Lima Office and Safe Streets Task Force.

Another pickup of cash was arranged and set for Tuesday, and two male subjects arrived to pick up the money.

32-year-old Xinxing Chen and 37-year-old Yaolong Zhou were arrested on complicity theft by deception charges.

A large amount of cash was located on the suspects.

Also during the investigation, it was reported that both suspects are in the United States on work visas from the Peoples Republic of China.

Assisting in the investigation was the Grand Lake Task Force, F.B.I. Lima Office, Ben Elder from the Auglaize County Prosecutor’s Office and the Safe Streets Task Force.

Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office Michael Vorhees thanked the bank that was involved in this.

He said, “Without their cooperation, the operation would not have been able to have the outcome it did. Due to the investigation still pending, the bank will not be named at this time, but their assistance was invaluable. With this investigation, as in numerous others, Auglaize County residents were overwhelmingly willing to accommodate the needs of Law Enforcement Units on scene and a thank you goes to all Auglaize County residents that helped out.”

Sheriff Vorhees reminded residents that, “If you are contacted by someone to turn money over to them for no reason, this is more than likely a scam. Please contact local law enforcement immediately. Do not become a victim of these senseless crimes.”