PROVIDENCE – Xuehai Sun, 38, of Flushing, New York, has pleaded guilty in federal court in Rhode Island, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in an elaborate transnational fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims across the United States and Canada.

Sun appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy on September 30, 2026, and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 6, 2027. The sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

According to court documents, Sun participated in a complex fraud operation in which members of the conspiracy targeted seniors by sending pop‑up messages to their computers. The messages were crafted to appear as though they came from legitimate technology companies and falsely warned victims that their computers had been hacked, that their bank accounts had been compromised, or that they were under investigation.

Victims were instructed to call a “live agent” who falsely claimed to be able to help safeguard their financial assets. During a series of calls, victims were connected to other members of the conspiracy posing as representatives of financial institutions or government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Reserve Bank.

Victims were then deceived into transferring funds and other assets—via wire transfers, cryptocurrency, or even by withdrawing cash to purchase gold bars—to accounts purportedly controlled by government agencies. In reality, the funds were directed to individuals involved in the fraud scheme.

At his change of plea hearing, Sun admitted that he had persons who worked for him as couriers to pick up the cash and/or gold from victims, whose names and information were provided to Sun by other co-conspirators, and that he sent the couriers to made pick-ups of funds and/or gold from victims, knowing that the funds and/or gold were obtained by fraudulent and false statements to the victims. Sun also admitted that he communicated with other co-conspirators about the coordination and dispatch of couriers to pick up gold and cash from victims, the transport of the gold and cash to conspiracy members, the amounts owed to conspiracy members, and the conversion of gold to cash.

Law enforcement has identified approximately 300 victims of the conspiracy group of which Sun was a part in at least 37 states, including Rhode Island. Known losses of the conspiracy group exceed $5 million, and investigators have identified an additional $16 million in suspected fraud proceeds laundered through a related account.

Sun was arrested in New York and initially appeared in the Eastern District of New York before being transferred to the District of Rhode Island for prosecution.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise M. Barton.

The matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Providence and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, as part of the Rhode Island Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF). Additional assistance was provided by the Narragansett Police Department, East Providence Police Department, New York Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and agents from HSI New England, HSI New York, HSI Houston, and HSI Los Angeles.

The United States Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of New York and the Southern District of Texas also provided assistance.