Two former Penn State students have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a fraud scheme that prosecutors say took more than $10 million (yaani about Rs 88 crore) from elderly victims across the United States. Yankun Jiang received seven years, while Hanlin Yang received two years, after both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, local reporting from Altoona said on Tuesday, October 27.

Source: Lightner Communications

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Jiang and Yang — both of State College, Pennsylvania — were among eight Chinese nationals who had obtained student visas to attend college in the United States and were indicted by a federal grand jury for the conspiracy. The others named in the indictment were from California, New York, New Jersey and Florida.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

How prosecutors say the scam worked

Prosecutors say that from about August 2023 to February 22, 2024, the group ran a wide-scale computer 'pop-up' scam: elderly victims were falsely told their computer or bank accounts had been compromised. Members of the conspiracy then allegedly travelled to victims' homes and posed as federal law enforcement officers to collect large sums of cash, claiming the money would be protected. The indictment alleges more than 50 victims in 19 states were defrauded of more than $10,000,000.

The human cost was spelled out in court. One victim told the court she lost about $2 million, including her life savings, and had to return to work after retiring, according to the sentencing report.

'These indictments highlight the relentless efforts of Homeland Security Investigations to safeguard our elderly population from complex fraud operations,' Edward V. Owens, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia, said when the charges were announced. 'Schemes like these cause significant emotional and financial harm to elderly victims across the country.'