1 male subject arrested for scamming Auglaize County Resident

The Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office took a report on January 12th, from a St. Marys Township, Auglaize
County Resident advising he was scammed out of a large sum of money. The victim stated he was
communicating with the scammers via telephone and messaging applications. The victim explained the
scam started out as a work from home opportunity which rolled into an IT scam where the victim was
directed to wire large sums of money and he would be provided his money in crypto currency to recover
his lost funds. The victim did wire money to the scammers, and was then encouraged to provide another
large sum of money to expedite his “case recovery.” The victim did then withdraw a large amount of
money and a male suspect later arrived at the victim’s residence on another day to pick up the money.

After this first pick-up was completed the scammer’s continued to communicate with the victim and
instructed him to provide an additional large sum of money. The victim realized at this point he is the
victim of a scam, and contacted our office to make a theft report. During conversation between the
victim and reporting deputy the victim agreed to cooperate with our office to investigate the suspects
by continuing to communicate and arrange a second pick up. Our office coordinated with the Grand
Lake Task Force, F.B.I. Lima Office and Safe Streets Task Force, as well as U.S. Customs and Border
Protection.

The second pick up was arranged for January 21st and the suspect arrived at the home as scheduled and
was immediately arrested. The suspect, in the United States under legal documents, was identified as a
citizen of the Peoples Republic of China. The suspect was transported to the Auglaize County Corrections
Center where he was identified and charged with:

Chuan Zhao 43 yoa Brooklyn, New York

Ohio Revised Code 2913.02 Theft by deception Felony 4th degree two counts

Assisting the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office with this investigation was the Grand Lake Task Force, F.B.I.
Lima Office and Safe Streets Task Force, as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Sheriff Vorhees wants to remind residents to be vigilant of scams and if you feel you are being scammed
to reach out to local law enforcement immediately.