3 Chinese Con-Artists to Be Imprisoned, Deported From NZ Over ‘Blessing’ Scam

After arriving on tourist visas, they targeted mostly elderly Chinese women, reaping over $100,000 in just 3 weeks.

Some of the cash seized from the three "blessing" scammers arrested recently in New Zealand. Courtesy of NZ Police

Three Chinese nationals who arrived in New Zealand on visitor visas have found their sightseeing confined to the inside of a prison cell before being deported after they were caught running a “blessing” swindle targeting mostly elderly Chinese women.

Over just three weeks, the trio accumulated more than $100,000 (US$58,900) in cash and jewellery.

They were arrested at Auckland airport carrying suitcases stuffed with $78,000 in cash and property.

Arriving together on Oct. 10 last year, they found their first victim—a 72-year-old woman—just two days later, at a swimming pool in Auckland.

Judge Kirsten Lummis described their subsequent offending as “despicable” when sentencing Baodi Wu, 59, and Huanyan Chen, 54, both women, and Guoli Liang, 51, in the Auckland District Court on May 15. At least one other person was also involved, but police could not identify them.

“The offending was well rehearsed,” Judge Lummis said in her sentencing remarks.

“On each occasion, you targeted lone females mature in their years ... In creating the ruse, you upheld this farce for hours at a time.

“Your sole motivation appears to have been money... It remains unclear to me who was driving this scam and what the real story is, but my overwhelming impression is you each played a role in a well-oiled machine.”

Increasingly Popular Scam

Police say well-coordinated criminal gangs have been running the scam in New Zealand for over 15 years, but they have recently noted a sharp increase.

It involves convincing the victim that they are subject to a curse, and offering to perform a “blessing” to lift it.

According to the summary of facts agreed between prosecutors and the defence, “The individuals involved in these scams are often transient, entering the country on temporary or visitor visas. They typically remain for less than a month and have no prior connections to the country, making it challenging for authorities to track their identities and movements once they depart.”

Cash and other items, believed to have been stolen from five victims, seized from the three Chinese tourists after they were arrested by Auckland City Financial Crime Unit detectives. Courtesy of NZ Police

Police alleged the three robbed a total of five people during the three weeks they were in New Zealand.

After meeting the first victim, Chen mentioned she lived in a house that was haunted by a ghost and had a daughter with mental health issues.

However, she had come to New Zealand hoping to seek help from “Master Huang,” a renowned expert in feng shui, but was having trouble finding him.

She asked the victim whether she had heard of Master Huang, and the victim said she hadn’t.

Wu then arrived on the scene, pretending to be a stranger, and saying she not only knew Master Huang but could take the women to meet him.

Chen and Wu then took the victim to meet Liang, who posed as Master Huang’s son, and told the victim her son was also in trouble.

Convinced by the trio that they would help her son, the victim followed the trio’s instructions to put $12,500 in cash and various items of gold and platinum jewellery into a white plastic bag along with a handful of rice. Wu also took her to a bank to withdraw another $2,000 to add to the bag’s contents.

When the three con artists met up, they surrounded the victim and distracted her with “spells,” telling her to focus on one of her hands. As she did so, they switched bags.

When the ritual was over, the woman was handed the bag, which she thought contained her money and belongings, and told not to open it for three months.

However, upon returning home, she looked inside to find a bottle of water and a bag of cornstarch.

Variations to the Scam

The other four victims were robbed using a similar scenario, with only minor changes to the script to suit the circumstances, including “Dr” Huang being portrayed as an expert in traditional Chinese medicine.

Fortunately, several other victims also did not wait three months before looking in the bags they were given, and police were able to trace the trio before they fled the country.

All three pleaded guilty to multiple counts of obtaining by deception, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment.

Judge Lummis set a starting point of three-and-a-half years for Chen and Wu and two-and-a-half years for Liang, then allowed a 25 percent discount for their guilty pleas.

Despite the fact that the accused had all expressed remorse, the judge was unimpressed and gave only a small reduction, noting, “You clearly didn’t feel bad after the first time, or the second time, or the third time.”

She settled on a sentence of two years and three months for Chen and Wu, and a year and seven months for Liang. All will be deported when their sentences are complete.