'Ghost' scam targets Chinese seniors

'Ghost' scam targets Chinese seniors; immigration hearings set for five people allegedly involved

 

 

BY THANDI FLETCHER AND DAN FUMANO, THE PROVINCE AUGUST 22, 2013

 

 

 

Youjun Huo, dressed in orange prison garb, hides his face by leaning forward on a table as he appears Wednesday by video link before the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Photograph by: NICK PROCAYLO , PNG

An immigration hearing for a Chinese national allegedly involved in a so-called “blessing scam” that has targeted Chinese seniors in Vancouver won’t take place until next month.

Youjun Huo and four women — Xiao Qiong Lin, Shao Quiong Luo, Jianmei Wu and Ya Jian Yang — were detained at Vancouver airport on July 15. The five were attempting to leave for Hong Kong when officers with the Canada Border Services Agency found they were carrying $148,000 worth of cash among them, as well as a large amount of jewelry concealed between the pages of magazines, in the lining of suitcases and inserted inside feminine hygiene products.

On Wednesday, Huo appeared at an immigration hearing to determine whether he is inadmissible to Canada because of his alleged involvement in organized crime. The women detained with him are facing a separate immigration hearing.

Dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, Huo, who appeared via video conference from the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre, hid his face by resting his head on a table as reporters and photographers attempted to take his photo.

Huo’s hearing was postponed until Sept. 12.

Aside from the immigration hearing, the suspects also face criminal charges of possession of stolen property over $5,000.

Earlier this month, Vancouver police appealed for victims of the long-running scam they have been investigating since June 2012. The department said it was aware of 13 reported cases in Vancouver.

Often referred to as the “ghost scam” or “blessing scam,” the elaborate con game often starts with a group of three or four Asian women who speak Cantonese approaching an elderly Chinese woman on the street, according to police.

The suspects tell their victims they are being followed by a ghost and that one of their children will die unless their money and jewelry is blessed immediately, police said. They then convince their victims that for $20,000 in cash and jewelry, they will sell them a “lucky jade bracelet” or a bottle containing “blessed mystical water” that will remove the bad luck.

Once the victims hand over their cash and jewelry, the scammers perform a short blessing ritual, during which they steal the goods and replace them with worthless items, according to police. The victims are then told to not check the bag for a period of time and not to tell their family about it, otherwise the blessing will not work.

During a July 18 detainment hearing, minister’s counsel Marin Debruyn said there is “a significant amount of evidence” tying the five suspects to similar scams in Calgary and Toronto.

A gold necklace chain and a gold desk clock were found in the seized luggage that was identified as belonging to a victim in Calgary, according to a transcript of the hearing. In another bag, a significant number of gold bracelets and bangles were found that were tentatively identified as ones stolen in a Vancouver robbery in October 2012, the transcript reads.

Similar scams have also been reported in New York, San Francisco and Australian newspapers.

Queenie Choo, CEO of social service agency SUCCESS, which helps both seniors and new Canadians, said the crime is especially heinous because it preys upon vulnerable people’s beliefs, as well as their love of their own families.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation where these people are trying to prey on those innocent people who believe this will bring them fortune,” said Choo.

She urged newcomers to Canada, especially seniors, to be wary of such scams.

“Talk to your family, talk to someone else,” she said. “Talk to the police if you’re not sure.”