South Bay Man Scams Bay Area Resident For 25K: Police

TORRANCE, CA — A South Bay man has been arrested after impersonating an FBI agent and scamming someone in a Northern California city out of thousands of dollars, according to police.

Balraj Singh, 24, of Torrance, was taken into custody on suspicion of attempted grand theft, attempted elder abuse and conspiracy, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Department. A co-conspirator, Zian Hu, 38, of San Francisco, was also taken into custody and charged with grand theft, elder abuse and conspiracy, according to police.

Authorities say Singh and Hu stole $25,000 from a Marin County resident by impersonating FBI agents and telling them that an active fraud investigation was underway involving their bank account.

The fake FBI agents told the resident to protect their money they needed to withdraw it and have it deposited in a “safe Federal bank account” via a courier, police said.

The resident withdrew $25,000 in cash and a Hu, acting as a courier, knocked on the resident’s door and took the cash, police said.

"There is no legitimate situation where a company or law enforcement agent will request delivery of cash/currency by courier," a Marin County Sheriff's Office press release stated.

Singh was arrested on May 12 after detectives caught him trying to pick up $50,000 from another person he was trying to scam, authorities said.

Deputies believe Hu and Singh have connections with a larger criminal enterprise and have access to large amounts of cash and requested a bail enhancement, according to authorities.

As a result, Singh was jailed without bail and Hu had his bail increased from $50,000 to $1 million, police said.

"If you are not sure if the correspondence from a business is legitimate, ask a friend, family member, or call your local law enforcement agency," a Marin County Sheriff's Office press release stated.

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