A Chinese national has been arrested for conspiring to commit wire fraud against Floridians. According to an official statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney announces the return of an indictment charging Jiaan Cao (33, China) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If convicted, Cao faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Cao is currently detained pending the resolution of this case.
According to the indictment, beginning in at least October 2024 and continuing through December 12, 2024, Cao conspired with others to commit wire fraud. Cao and other conspirators sought to accomplish the wire fraud by gaining access to a victim’s computer, fraudulently posing as a representative of a victim’s financial institution and informing the victim their account had been subjected to fraudulent or criminal activity. A member of the conspiracy would then direct the victim to withdraw money from their account and purchase gold to provide to a conspirator. A conspirator would then travel to the victim to obtain the gold. During the conspiracy, conspirators exchanged electronic communications with one another that included location details of the victim.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.
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