Cumberland Police on Wednesday announced the arrest of a man accused of orchestrating a sophisticated online fraud scheme targeting a local Maine resident.
In a joint operation with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, on March 10, Cumberland Police arrested Zhangqi Xie, 44, for of theft by deception, a Class B offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $20,000.
Police say Zhangqi Xie has an address in Flushing, New York.
Xie’s arrest comes after Cumberland Police received a report on March 5 that a local resident had been scammed out of $100,000 after falling victim to a scheme in which Xie allegedly convinced the victim to convert financial assets of over $100,000 into gold bars, which were then given to a courier.
In the course of their investigation, police learned that the scam was still ongoing, and organized a targeted sting operation against Xie.
At about 6 p.m. on Monday, police took Xie into custody in the Foreside area of Cumberland after he had allegedly traveled there with the intent of further victimizing the resident.
Xie is being held at the Cumberland County Jail on $500,000 bail.
According to Cumberland Police, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Yarmouth Police Department and the Falmouth Police Department assisted in the investigation.
Police say that in recent weeks, all levels of law enforcement in Maine have responded to a higher frequency of incidents involving in-person encounters between victims and courier impersonators.
“The Cumberland Police Department encourages the public to review a related Public Service Announcement, https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240129, and report any such suspicious activity to your local police department and IC3.gov,” the department stated.
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