SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Sun Tong Lin, age 37, and Xueliang Chen, age 36, both of Staten Island, New York, were indicted on December 17, 2024, by a federal grand jury on wire fraud and conspiracy charges.
According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the indictment alleges that, in June and July of 2024, Sun Tong Lin and Xueliang Chen were part of a scheme to defraud victims by convincing them that their online accounts or bank accounts were not secure. The conspirators would convince the victim to withdraw a large sum of cash and hand it over to an agent for safekeeping, when, in reality, they were stealing the money. Many of the victims were elderly. In total, the indictment alleges that the defendants stole approximately $288,000 from at least nine victims and attempted to steal another $50,000 from one victim in Tioga County.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean A. Camoni is prosecuting the case.