False gold scam results in arrest of Chinese national living in B.C.
Bao Sheng Zhong faces three counts of fraud
Richmond RCMP have arrested a man in connection with a scheme of selling false gold.
Bao Sheng Zhong, a Chinese national living in Richmond, B.C., now faces three counts of fraud for allegedly scamming two Asian women and one Asian man from the Lower Mainland.
The 44-year-old man allegedly posed as a construction worker who had discovered a treasure trove of gold which he then tried to sell as authentic. He allegedly befriended his victims and convinced them of the authenticity of his find.
As part of the scheme, police say Zhong allowed the gold to be tested, but a sample of authentic gold was switched before testing with a bit of sleight-of-hand.
Officers had originally issued a public warning about the scheme back in March, but it took them several months to track the suspect down.
"To my knowledge, this arrest is perhaps the first publicized of its kind in Canada," said Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
"This type of crime has occurred in other parts of the world. Recently there was a similar arrest made in Japan. Other arrests were reportedly made in Singapore. We have also seen public warnings from law enforcement in the U.S. Comparing those cases, we found the circumstances uncanny in similarity."