Two Southern California suspects admitted their roles in a brazen scam that conned an elderly Ventura man out of $25,000 after fraudsters falsely claimed his bank account was tied to child sexual abuse material in Canada, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that Shaohua Sun, of Monterey Park, and Yanwen Gu, of Rosemead, both pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit elder abuse along with additional special allegations tied to the case.
Authorities said the scheme began March 18, when the senior citizen received a text message warning him to verify a supposed $350 purchase at the Apple Store charged to his credit card. The message urged him to call a phone number “immediately.”
During the call, an unidentified accomplice allegedly told the victim his local credit union account had been linked to illegal child exploitation content originating in Canada.
The frightened victim was then instructed to contact what scammers described as the “Ventura County Credit Union Fraud Department.”
A woman identifying herself as “Jade” allegedly directed the man to withdraw $25,000 in cash and deliver it to someone posing as an undercover police officer in Ventura. To complete the handoff, the victim was reportedly given a secret “code phrase” to repeat before surrendering the money.
The victim followed the instructions and met with an unidentified co-conspirator, who collected the cash after hearing the phrase, according to prosecutors.
Soon after the exchange, the victim and his spouse began to suspect they had been duped and contacted Ventura police.
The next day, while detectives were interviewing the victim, “Jade” allegedly reached out again, this time demanding an additional $50,000.
Police then coordinated a follow-up operation. Prosecutors said Gu approached the victim on March 19, accepted the designated “code phrase,” and took what she believed was another package of cash before officers moved in and arrested her as she tried to run away.
Investigators later determined Sun acted as a lookout during the attempted pickup and arrested him shortly after Gu collected the package.
“These scams are highly sophisticated and often target older adults,” Ventura Police Chief David Dickey said. “We encourage all community members to have conversations with their loved ones about these tactics and to report suspicious circumstances or activity immediately.”
Gu entered her guilty plea on May 11 and is scheduled to be sentenced June 9 in Ventura County Superior Court. Sun pleaded guilty May 7, surrendered the stolen $25,000 in restitution, and is expected to be sentenced June 12.
Both defendants remain jailed on $500,000 bail and each faces a possible sentence of up to four years in prison followed by two years of probation.
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