The Bridgeport Police arrested two men of from New York who scammed a city business owner out of more than $160,000.

 

According to Bridgeport Police Detective Jason Carey, MingShou Lin, 28, and ShuSong Lin also 28 of Brooklyn, were arrested March 20 at the Meadowbrook Mall. The pair allegedly participated in a scam that focused on investments to a brokerage firm in China.

 

Carey said the arrests of both men came without incident. The FBI and West Virginia State Police assisted on the case that saw both men charged with felony fraudulent schemes and are in the North Central West Virginia Regional Jail in Doddridge County.

 

“These crimes are sad to see. They prey on the elderly,” said Carey.

 

Law enforcement was able to set up a situation that led to the arrest on Feb. 14. Bridgeport Police were contacted by the owner of the Meadowbrook Mall business, an elderly Asian woman, who filed a fraud complaint.

 

“The victim in this case thought she was investing U.S. money into a foreign currency, in this case Chinese money,” said Carey. “Three times in January an Asian male came to Bridgeport to meet with the victim at the mall and the total on those three trips saw him collect between $160,000 to $180,000.”

 

Carey said she did not suspect it was a scam until she tried to pull money out of the account and was unable to do so. She was told, Carey said, that in order to receive her funds she would have to pay a significant amount of cash to pull money from what she believed was a legitimate fund.

 

“She was told to do that she would have to pay $50,000 in taxes,” said Carey. “That is when she contacted us thinking something was wrong.”

 

That led to the March 20 arrests. Carey said law enforcement instructed her to tell those involved the cash was ready for pickup.

 

“We had a controlled transaction.

 

MingShou Lin was arrested inside the mall and was the individual arriving to get the money. ShuSoung Lin was arrested outside the mall.

 

“One of the pair is here on a legal green card, while the other was her on a student visa that expired in 2014,” said Carey. “The arrests came with no issues, and they cooperated with us.”

 

Despite the last names, the pair said they are not related. They did say they grew up together in the same town in China.

 

Carey said neither arrested were the man who took money during the first three trips to Bridgeport. He said law enforcement is still working to determine who the man in question is.

 

“This scam is unique because there was an actual physical person coming. You basically never see that because these scams are typically done over the internet,” said Carey.

 

The arrests came on the heels of two other men being arrested in Upshur County. The men also came to the house of an Upshur County woman claiming they were from Chase Bank and attempting to secure her money in her account due to a computer virus. The pair were trying to get $30,000 in this particular scam on March 8.

 

“Through our interviews we realized this is a common scam. The two men we arrested knew the two men arrested in Upshur County,” said Carey.

 

The victim may very well be out of the money she thought she was investing. She can likely sue for restitution and the judge can order restitution to be paid, but many times little if any money is returned.

 

A preliminary hearing was held Thursday, March 28. The pair are each being held on $100,000 surety bond.

 

“The shame, like many groups, is that they target the elderly. For this group, it was elderly females,” said Carey. “She thought she was investing in a brokerage firm, but with a little investigation she would have notice the firm was not even licensed in the U.S. We always advise to research and verify, and if you think you may be part of a scam contact law enforcement.”

 

Carey is the lead investigator on the case. He said Trooper C.C. Jones is overseeing the case in Upshur County.

 

Editor's Note: ShuSong Lin is shown on the left, while MingShou Lin is on the right. Photos from the West Virginia Regional Jail System Web site.