Chanhassen gold scam: Courier charged after $91,825 attempt
CHANHASSEN, Minn. (FOX 9) - Court documents say deputies stopped a gold pickup after a Chanhassen woman reported a scheme tied to fake computer alerts and callers posing as officials.
How deputies say the gold pickup was set up
According to a criminal complaint, the case began Sept. 28 when the Carver County Sheriff’s Office got a report from a Chanhassen woman.
Local perspective:
The complaint says the woman told a deputy she saw alerts on her computer with a number that appeared to be for Microsoft. After she called, a man who identified himself as Henry Harvin got remote access to her computer and claimed it showed a purchase of child pornography.
The complaint says the woman was then transferred to a man identified as Kamp Parker, who claimed to be from the Federal Trade Commission. Parker told her about $300,000 had been removed from an account in her name and used to buy child pornography, firearms and sex trafficking.
Timeline:
According to the complaint, Parker told the woman she could be treated as an accomplice and needed to move between $90,000 and $120,000 into gold at two locations to protect her money. The complaint says she tried to convert $91,825, received gold from one store and gave the second store a check for the rest before realizing it was a scam.
An investigator then had the woman contact the suspect again, according to the complaint. The caller said the process had started to get the woman a new Social Security number, and the investigator got photos from a gold seller showing about $50,000 in gold coins and another group worth about $30,000 that were sent to the caller before a courier pickup was arranged for Oct. 2.
The complaint says the caller told the woman on Oct. 2 to get a receipt from her last gold purchase, write specific words on it and send proof. The caller also set a passcode for the handoff and told the woman to meet at Fido’s Pantry in Chanhassen while staying on the phone until the courier arrived.
According to the complaint, the investigator posed as the woman at the meeting spot. A man later identified as Kai Chun Hu arrived, identified himself as Mike and gave the arranged passcode, and deputies arrested him.
Court records show Hu, 24, is charged with one county of aiding and abetting theft by swindle.
The complaint says Hu told investigators during an interview that he is from Taiwan, was visiting Atlanta and came to Minnesota after a friend in Taiwan contacted him through Telegram and told him to "pick up an item" and sent money for his flight. The complaint also says Hu told investigators the friend later deleted the messages and that he stayed on the phone with that person until the planned handoff.
The Source: Carver County District Court complaint filed Oct. 5.