Chinese National Sentenced to 27 Months for Defrauding Elderly Floridians

A Chinese national faces 27 months in federal prison for her role as a money courier in a fraud scheme that targeted elders in Florida.

John P. Heekin, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced on June 23 that Liu Xin, 40, of Apopka, Florida, was sentenced after pleading guilty in March to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Court records show that she attempted to pick up more than $95,000 in money scammed out of elderly victims across the state in July 2024, highlighting her main role in the scheme.

Some of her co-conspirators were based in China, according to Heekin.

“We are unfortunately seeing a rise in the prevalence of elder fraud schemes orchestrated and executed by foreign nationals who target and financially exploit our senior citizens, depleting their life savings and leaving the victims destitute,” Heekin said in a statement.

Heekin’s office said Liu’s actions resulted in “substantial financial hardship” for at least one elderly victim.

One of Liu’s victims was a 73-year-old man who lived in an assisted living apartment complex for seniors in Gainesville. According to a court document, the victim was deceived into believing he was a victim of identity theft after being contacted by an individual who falsely claimed to work for the Department of the Treasury.

In total, Liu drove to at least six locations in Florida to pick up money between July 22 and July 30, 2025, and was paid a portion of the fraud proceeds.

At the time of her offense, Liu was on an H-1B visa.

“Stealing from seniors is not just a financial crime, it’s a betrayal of trust,” Jason Carley, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville Office. “Older Americans should never have to fear being targeted by criminals looking to drain their life savings.”

Before sentencing, Liu’s attorney filed a memorandum defending her client and arguing that, although the offense was serious, Liu played a “limited role” in the fraud scheme.

“She was not the architect of the scheme, did not control the fraud operation, and did not decide whom to target, and was directed how to act,” Liu’s attorney wrote.

According to court documents, Liu’s legal representation has been terminated, and updated attorney information was not available.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging, chaired by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), said Liu’s case “is a prime example of China targeting older Americans and exploiting vulnerable victims,” according to an X post on June 23.

“Communist China is a very REAL threat,” the committee wrote, adding that Scott “is fighting every day to protect our seniors and hold our enemies accountable.”

During a June 17 congressional hearing focusing on the Chinese regime’s toll on senior Americans’ health, finances, and security, Scott spoke about how the regime targets senior Americans with “relentless scams.”

“In 2024, Americans over 60 lost nearly five billion dollars to financial scams,” Scott said.

“That’s not just a crime statistic, but a coordinated campaign, run at an industrial scale, by organized criminal enterprises with direct ties to actors operating under the protection of or at the direction of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Scott said criminals operating scam compounds in Southeast Asia are using artificial intelligence-generated voice clones, deepfake video calls, and grandparent, romance, and investment scams to target senior Americans.

Congress needs to take action, Scott added, pointing to the Scam Compound Accountability and Mobilization (SCAM) Act, which was passed by the Senate in December last year, and the Strengthening Targeting of Organized Predatory Scammers (STOP Scammers) Act.

The SCAM Act would enhance coordination across federal agencies to dismantle foreign scam compounds. The STOP Scammers Act, introduced by Scott last August, would direct the Treasury Secretary to identify and designate foreign entities involved in financial fraud against Americans as “foreign financial threat organizations.”

“Congress needs to act now and pass legislation targeting these bad actors before even more Americans lose their life savings to these thugs,” Scott said.