Elderly woman robbed of $130,000 saved for ill health
The group discussed how this great-grandfather was “a powerful physician who could perform rituals to save lives,” according to the documents.
Police said 72-year-old Mingzhen Liu was also wanted on fraud charges.Credit: NSW Police
Ren allegedly told the victim to go home and collect money and valuables that had to be temporarily sacrificed for the ritual, promising to return.
When the group later reconvened at Hurstville train station, Ren allegedly asked the victim to put $6,300 worth of cash and jewelery in a black plastic bag blessed by his great-grandfather.
The victim complied and was told to say the names of her children three times to complete the ritual. The memo claimed that he was given the black bag and told not to open it for a month for the ceremony to proceed.
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On the way home, the suspicious woman opened the bag and saw that there was no money or valuables.
From then on, the alleged scam became even more callous.
The group’s next victim was a 71-year-old Chinese woman approached in Chatswood on Sydney’s north shore.
This time the victim turned over $28,000 worth of money and valuables. He also became suspicious when he opened a plastic bag on his train ride home to find his belongings had been replaced by a bottle of water and packets of noodles, according to the documents.
On June 5, a 77-year-old woman was heading to a doctor’s appointment in Parramatta when she was approached by a group of people walking to the back of a nearby church and discussing the plant.
CCTV footage in Blacktown shows a 73-year-old woman being scammed by three unidentified women.Credit: NSW Police
Ren soon claimed that his great-grandfather sensed that the victim was “disturbed by a hostile animal spirit” and that his son had stepped in a pool of blood from a fatal car crash victim.
The trio went to the victim’s Cherrybrook home, where they took $130,000 in cash and assorted jewelry. Ren allegedly said that the ritual was performed remotely and that the woman should only put the money in the “blessed” plastic bag and not open it for 28 days.
Eventually, this victim also became cautious and opened the bag to find that his money had been replaced by a water bottle and noodles.
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The memo stated that the woman was experiencing “tremendous stress” due to losing her life savings due to health-related reasons.
“[The victim] Court documents state that she fell for this scam and was humiliated because she was afraid to reveal its full extent to her family.
On July 3, Ruan was arrested at Sydney International Airport while trying to re-enter the country. He was taken to Mascot Police Station and admitted being caught on CCTV, saying he was “number two” in the scam and had been paid to take part.
Police have an arrest warrant for Ren and Liu, whom they want to charge with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage, participating in a criminal group and intent to commit theft. They have not yet been charged with any crime and have pleaded not guilty to any crime.
