FBI Impersonator Scams Bay Area Resident For 25K: Police

MARIN COUNTY, CA — The Marin County Sheriff’s Department arrested someone May 12 in connection with an investigation into FBI impersonators that resulted in a Marin County resident giving them $25,000, police said.

Sheriff’s deputies said they arrested Zian Hu, 38, of San Francisco, and Balraj Singh, 24, of Torrance, in connection with the FBI scam. They were booked into the Marin County Jail and Hu was charged with grand theft, elder abuse and conspiracy, and Singh was charged with attempted grand theft, attempted elder abuse and conspiracy.

On February 18, an older resident in Marin County told police they were a victim of fraud. The resident said they had been contacted by phone people claiming to be FBI agents, who said there was an active fraud investigation involving the resident’s 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 courier, police later identified as Hu, 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.

On May 12, detectives said they arrested Singh, who was engaged in a similar scam involving a cash courier pick up. Singh went to a resident to pick up $50,000 in cash but law enforcement contacted him before he could complete the theft.

Detectives said they believe Hu and Singh have connections with a larger criminal enterprise and have access to large amounts of cash. A bail enhancement was requested for both individuals and a bail enhancement was increased from $50,000 to $1 million for Hu and no bail for Singh.

"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.