Police: Scam of Franklin Square senior citizen nets arrest in con involving cash, gold bars

A Brooklyn man faces an attempted grand larceny charge after police said he scammed an elderly Franklin Square woman out of more than $200,000 in cash and gold bars.

Police arrested Zun Huo Shao, 40, and accused him of orchestrating a scheme that included text messaging the 80-year-old woman and claiming to be a representative of Chase Bank. The suspect said he was working with the FBI and asked her to give him her money for safekeeping, police said.

Police said the woman first received a text claiming her Apple ID account had been compromised and she had been defrauded. The woman was given a phone number to speak to the man, who arranged several meetings between Oct. 10 and Dec. 6, to turn over about $203,000 in cash and gold bars, according to police.

The man contacted the woman again Thursday and asked for another meeting, requesting $80,000 in additional gold bars, police said. The man gave her an FBI agent’s name and a password to give to the person picking up the gold, according to the allegations.

The woman said she became suspicious and called police, who investigated the scam and arrested Huo Shao on Thursday at his home near Bay Ridge.

Huo Shao was charged with attempted grand larceny and with breaking Nassau County’s Mask Transparency Act, which makes it a misdemeanor to wear a mask in public, except for health or religious exemptions.

Huo Shao pleaded not guilty and was released on nonmonetary conditions at his arraignment Friday in First District Court in Hempstead. A temporary order of protection was issued in the case.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.