SCRANTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
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.
The maximum total penalty under federal law for these offenses is 40 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
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