handing-over-check
Employees at New York credit unions helped police arrest three suspects in two separate fraud incidents, including one in which an elderly member was nearly defrauded out of $30,000, authorities said.
On Sept. 24, police officers responded to a suspected fraud-in-progress at the $116 million Community Resource Federal Credit Union in Latham, a hamlet in the Town of Colonie, northwest of Albany.
A credit union employee, who was not identified by Colonie Police, reported that an elderly male member appeared to be confused while attempting to withdraw $30,000 for a construction project. Investigators said the member’s actions were allegedly being directed over the phone by an unknown individual.
To identify the caller, a Colonie police investigator posed as the elderly member and arranged to hand over the cash to the suspect. This led to the arrest of Huifeng Jin and Qinghua Wang, both of Flushing, N.Y.
During the arrest, a police officer sustained a significant injury. The officer’s condition has not been released.
In a statement posted to social media, the Colonie Police Department praised the credit union employees for their actions.
“Their attention to detail, and the obvious care and concern they displayed for their customer saved tens of thousands of dollars and resulted in the arrest of two suspects who were actively preying on the elderly,” Colonie Police stated.
Huifeng Jin, 43, was charged with felony assault on a police officer and grand larceny. He was also charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor. Jin was arraigned in Colonie Town Court and remanded to the Albany County Correctional Facility pending a preliminary hearing.
Qinghua Wang, 34, has been charged with grand larceny. He was arraigned and released under the supervision of probation, according to Colonie Police.
A synopsis of this incident posted on Facebook received more than 2,000 views and 367 comments.
In a separate incident, employees at the $40.8 million Solutions Federal Credit Union in the Town of Southport, adjacent to Elmira, N.Y., alerted the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office last month after a suspect cashed an altered and fictitious $23,020 U.S. Treasury check.
An investigation led to the arrest of Anthony Brooks, 21, of Elmira. Investigators said another individual provided Brooks with the fake check, and he agreed to cash it in exchange for a share of the proceeds.
Brooks was charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument and grand larceny. He was arraigned and released on his own recognizance pending a future court date.
The investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are expected, authorities said.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at pstrozniak@cutimes.com.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.