NY man accused of bilking Erie County woman of $10,000 in warrant scam waives criminal case
A New York man charged by the Pennsylvania State Police in an investigation into a warrant scam that cost an Erie County woman more than $10,000 in May 2021 is facing trial for his alleged crimes.
Xing Wang, 49, of Brooklyn, New York, waived his criminal case to court on Tuesday afternoon during an appearance before Summit Township District Judge Brian McGowan for his preliminary hearing. Wang faces charges including felony counts of conspiracy to commit dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activities, conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
State police troopers also charged Wang with a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit impersonating a public servant, accusing him and his accused accomplice, 50-year-old Brooklyn resident Rongjiao Li, of posing as an Erie County sheriff's deputy when the victim was scammed.
State police filed the charges against the two accused suspects in December following an investigation that started after authorities said the woman was scammed in May 2021.
Wang was apprehended in a traffic stop in New York and was brought back to Erie to face the charges, according to state police. He was arraigned on Sept. 6 and remained in the Erie County Prison until Tuesday, when he posted his $25,000 bond, according to online court docket information.
Li remains at large. She faces the same charges as Wang.
More:Hammering scammers: Brooklyn pair charged with bilking Erie County woman out of $10,800
The scam
State police accuse Wang and Li of tricking the woman into sending them a total of $10,800 through Bitcoin and Sam's Club gift cards by getting her to fall for the warrant scam, a common ruse that has been perpetrated, often successfully, in Erie County and across the country for some time.
In the scam, a person is contacted and is told the person has a warrant for their arrest. In order to lift the warrant, the person is told to pay a certain amount of money.
In the case against Wang and Li, state police said the woman received a call on May 21, 2021, from a man who identified himself as a member of the Erie County Sheriff's Office. She was told she had criminal charges pending against her and needed to pay $10,000 to clear her name, investigators wrote in the criminal complaints.
Authorities said the woman initially thought the call was a scam and hung up, but she took it seriously when the person claiming to be a member of the Erie County Sheriff's Office called back. What made the woman suspect the call was legitimate, according to investigators, was the number that appeared on her caller ID was a number associated with the Erie County Sheriff's Office.
State police said they were able to identify Wang and Li as suspects in the scam when the pair used the Sam's Club gift cards at stores in New Jersey. Investigators obtained surveillance video and identified the car the suspects were seen leaving the stores in as a vehicle registered to Wang. Loss prevention associates at the New Jersey stores also helped in identifying the suspects as Wang and Li, authorities reported.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: NY man faces trial in warrant scam that cost Erie County woman $10,000
