A California man was sentenced to two decades in prison for attempting to steal more than $1 million during a gold bar fraud in Maryland, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
On Tuesday, March 11, a Montgomery County judge sentenced Wenhui Sun, 35, of Lake Arbor, California, to 20 years in jail. The judge deferred part of Sun’s sentence, requiring him to serve 6.5 years.
Sun pleaded guilty in October 2024 to a theft scheme over $100,000, theft over $100,000, attempted theft over $100,000, and conspiracy to conduct crime over $100,000.
This comes after he attempted to defraud an elderly woman living in Silver Spring’s Leisure World gated neighborhood of more than $1.1 million.
According to court filings, the woman notified the Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) about the theft in early March 2024. She reported that a person who initially described himself as working for the Office of the Inspector General—Federal Trade Commission contacted her and claimed she had been the victim of identity theft.
The person informed the woman that she would need to convert all of her assets into gold bars and that an “FBI agent” would collect the money and deliver it to the US Department of Treasury.
The woman consented and gave couriers approximately $800,000 in gold bars for two different deliveries. Investigators identified Sun as a courier.
The attorney’s office stated that this scam is considered to be part of an international organized crime network. Similar instances have been reported around Montgomery County and the United States.
Sun will serve five years of supervised probation following his release. He was forced to pay $457,410.34 in restitution.
According to the attorney’s office, this was Montgomery County’s first conviction related to the gold bar fraud.