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Man pleads guilty after scamming an 82-year-old Montgomery Co. woman out of nearly $1M
Man pleads guilty after scamming an 82-year-old Montgomery Co. woman out of nearly $1M
Zhenyong Weng from New York faces up to 40 years in prison and up to $55,000 in fines. The 19-year-old pled guilty to three counts of theft.
Author: Ittai Sopher
Published: 8:31 PM EST January 21, 2025
Updated: 8:31 PM EST January 21, 2025
ROCKVILLE, Md. — A 19-year-old pled guilty in a Maryland district court on Monday to scamming an 82-year-old Montgomery County woman out of $900,000, admitting to also trying to steal $2.5 million more. ... Zhenyong Weng from New York faces up to 40 years in prison and up to $55,000 in fines. The 19-year-old pled guilty to three counts of theft, including conspiracy to commit a theft scheme and attempted theft.
The scamming began in April 2024 and lasted until July 2024. During that period the victim apparently converted $900,000 of her life savings into gold, handing the bullions over to Weng. ... Court documents from Maryland District Court in Montgomery County detail a series of lies Weng allegedly told the 82-year-old woman to scare her into handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars, including warning her that Russia and the US government were stealing from her bank account.
"Eventually, a suspect caller using the name 'Jeff' persuaded her to remove money from her bank accounts by falsely telling her it was needed to prevent the government from taking her savings while she was waiting to be issued a new social security number," court documents said.
While Weng admitted he had tried to get the woman to hand over millions more, the 82-year-old victim eventually caught on that she had been tricked and reached out to Montgomery County police. According to district court documents, a detective borrowed the victim's car and met up with Weng where she handed him what he apparently believed was another gold bar. ... "When the victim purchased the gold bars, the suspect believed they were receiving a one-kilo gold bar with a value of $75,017," court documents say.
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Zhenyong Weng from New York faces up to 40 years in prison and up to $55,000 in fines. The 19-year-old pled guilty to three counts of theft.
Author: Ittai Sopher
Published: 8:31 PM EST January 21, 2025
Updated: 8:31 PM EST January 21, 2025
ROCKVILLE, Md. — A 19-year-old pled guilty in a Maryland district court on Monday to scamming an 82-year-old Montgomery County woman out of $900,000, admitting to also trying to steal $2.5 million more. ... Zhenyong Weng from New York faces up to 40 years in prison and up to $55,000 in fines. The 19-year-old pled guilty to three counts of theft, including conspiracy to commit a theft scheme and attempted theft.
The scamming began in April 2024 and lasted until July 2024. During that period the victim apparently converted $900,000 of her life savings into gold, handing the bullions over to Weng. ... Court documents from Maryland District Court in Montgomery County detail a series of lies Weng allegedly told the 82-year-old woman to scare her into handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars, including warning her that Russia and the US government were stealing from her bank account.
"Eventually, a suspect caller using the name 'Jeff' persuaded her to remove money from her bank accounts by falsely telling her it was needed to prevent the government from taking her savings while she was waiting to be issued a new social security number," court documents said.
While Weng admitted he had tried to get the woman to hand over millions more, the 82-year-old victim eventually caught on that she had been tricked and reached out to Montgomery County police. According to district court documents, a detective borrowed the victim's car and met up with Weng where she handed him what he apparently believed was another gold bar. ... "When the victim purchased the gold bars, the suspect believed they were receiving a one-kilo gold bar with a value of $75,017," court documents say.
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