Two men are accused of scamming a South Whitehall woman out of $683,000 in gold bars earlier this year, according to officials.
Jiwan Chen, 57, who does not have a current address, worked with Tianhang Zhou, 62, of New York, to convince the woman she needed to purchase gold bullion and give it to someone in the Allentown area, District Attorney Gavin Holihan said in a news release.
Chen was charged in July with offenses of theft, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, financial exploitation of a care-dependent person, criminal use of a communication facility, and conspiracy to commit those offenses. He waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday. Zhou’s charges were dismissed Wednesday, however authorities refiled charges later that day. He is charged with the same offenses.
South Whitehall police were contacted by the woman’s relative in late June, and were told that she was contacted weeks earlier by unknown people claiming to represent “American Bank,” the DA’s office said.
They told the woman, 78, that her identity and Social Security number had been compromised, and that she needed to transfer her assets to a new account, the release states. She tried to make multiple wire transfers at their direction, but her bank rejected those attempts when it was determined the new account was not valid, authorities said.
She was then directed to buy gold bullion and take it to specific locations in the Allentown area, police said. She made four deliveries following their directions, and gave $550,000 in gold to couriers, the DA’s office said.
South Whitehall police later watched her deliver $133,000 in gold to a man identified as Chen outside her senior living facility in the township, the release states. Zhou was also spotted in the area where the gold was going to be delivered, authorities said.
Investigators determined the two of them worked together to get gold from the woman, the release states.
Chen and Zhou remain in Lehigh County Jail on $500,000 bail each.