ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Virginia man has pleaded guilty to scamming elderly people out of over a million dollars over three years of gift card scams. The same man also stole $124,000 worth of baby formula in a separate scheme.
According to the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, and court documents, Sunyu Qian, 31, from Fairfax, conned people into purchasing gift cards that he used to purchase electronics as part of a large criminal organization.
From Nov. 19, 2020, and Aug. 13, 2023, Qian used approximately $1.1 million in ill-gotten gains.
In a separate scheme, from April 2023 to March 2024, Qian used counterfeit price tags to purchase large containers of baby formula at a cheaper price. For example, Qian scanned counterfeit tags for 13-ounce cans of formula priced at $4.99 each, to purchase containers regularly priced at $62.99 each. He would then drop the formula off to someone else, who paid him in cash, the US Attorney's Office said.
In total, Qian defrauded two retailers of $124,000.
Qian’s total culpability over the two schemes is approximately $1.25 million.
Qian pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 18 and faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.
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