Chinese National Indicted for Role in Gift Card Fraud Conspiracy in Homeland Security Task Force Investigation

A federal grand jury in the District of New Hampshire returned an indictment yesterday charging a Chinese national and resident of Lynnfield, Massachusetts, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in an international gift card fraud conspiracy.

According to the indictment, Jinbin Ren, 38, and co-conspirators, acquired gift cards stolen from victims through romance fraud, elder fraud, hacking, theft, and other scams. The conspirators then used the gift cards to purchase and ship high-value electronics to Ren's warehouse in Salem, New Hampshire. These electronics were then consolidated and reshipped to China. The conspirators used WeChat, a Chinese messaging application, to coordinate purchases, sales, shipments, and payments through cryptocurrency. Electronics found in Ren's warehouse were traced to fraudulently obtained gift cards from American victims across multiple states.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan for the District of New Hampshire, Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Grimming of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Acting Inspector in Charge Jason Buckley of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's Boston Division.

The case is being investigated by HSI New England, IRS Criminal Investigations Boston, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Boston, and the Concord, NH Police Department.

Trial Attorneys Emily Cohen and Madison Albrecht of the Justice Department's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Chen for the District of New Hampshire are prosecuting the case.

The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section's (MNF) mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

MNF's Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes involving financial facilitators, gatekeepers, and other individuals and entities laundering criminal proceeds, and litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims.

This prosecution is also part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.