Three Californians found guilty of laundering $2.5 million in Target gift card scam

A jury convicted three San Gabriel Valley residents on Tuesday, Sept. 26, of conning older adults of more than $2.5 million by persuading them to buy Target gift cards under false pretenses.

Blade Bai, of El Monte; Bowen Hu, of Hacienda Heights; and Tairan Shi, of Diamond Bar were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Tuesday.

Bai, 35, was also found guilty of an additional charge of conspiring to commit money laundering, which he committed after being freed on bond in the initial case.

The scheme involved various overseas telephone scammers who lied to victims to persuade them to buy Target gift cards to fix nonexistent problems, which included posing as law enforcement officers or government employees and claiming the victims’ identities had been stolen or warrants had been issued for the victims’ arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The scammers convinced their victims that money in the form of Target gift cards was necessary to remedy the problems.

Another tactic employed by the scammers involved tricking victims into responding to tech support emails posing as well-known companies and claiming there were problems relating to the victims’ financial accounts.

After buying the gift cards – typically in increments of $500 – the victims were then asked to read the card numbers and access codes over the phone to the scammers.

Bai, Hu and Shi obtained more than 5,000 gift cards from a group of unknown persons in China that called itself the “Magic Lamp,” often on the same day fraud victims had purchased the gift cards.  They then sold the gift card information through the online messaging application WeChat.

The defendants also used WeChat to coordinate the distribution of gift cards to “runners,” who used the gift cards at Target stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties to purchase electronics, other gift cards and other various items, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Yan Fu, 60, of Chino Hills, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Fu, who was one of the “runners” in this conspiracy, is serving a 20 month-sentence in federal prison. Fu was also ordered to pay $48,073 in restitution.