A California woman turned herself in at the Volusia County Branch Jail on July 21 on accusations she posed as an Orange City woman’s accountant and stole almost half a million dollars from her.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Unit charged Ariel Wang, 33, of Inglewood, California, with grand theft over $100,000, organized scheme to defraud more than $50,000, and money laundering transfer of $100,000 or more. She was in the Volusia County Branch Jail on July 22 on $1 million bail.
Wang traveled to Volusia County to surrender, the sheriff’s office said.
Wang and a California accomplice, Jason Hellaman, 56, conspired to steal from the Orange City victim, sheriff’s investigators said.
Deputies issued a warrant for Hellaman’s arrest, and he was taken into custody in California. He was charged with money laundering and grand theft over $100,000, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigating deputies said the Orange City woman reported that she was expecting to make a $500,000 transfer as tax payment for capital gains and was waiting for instructions from her account, so she didn’t suspect anything when she got an email supposedly from her accountant on April 30.
The Orange City victim transferred $487,350 to Wang on April 30. Then on May 27, during a conversation with her accountant, she learned that the accountant did not ask for the transfer to be made, an arrest report said.
The accountant advised the victim to contact the sheriff’s office as he believed his email had been hacked, the report noted.
The investigating deputy traced the money transfer to Banner Bank in California and issued an order to freeze the money in the account, the report said.
That prompted a response from Hellawell, of Laverne, California, who told deputies that the money in his escrow business account had been frozen. He explained that he was a legitimate business professional who facilitated the money transfer for Wang. He said Wang and her aunt Tina Liao were wealthy and got a private loan from the Orange City woman to build another home on Wang’s property, an arrest report shows.
But further investigation showed that Hellaman took some of the money and converted it into cryptocurrency after learning that authorities were onto their theft of the Orange City victim’s money, investigators said.
Investigators believed Tina Liao was another name Wang used to transfer money to herself, the arrest report states.
When interviewed, Wang contradicted Hellaman’s statements that they were rich and owned many businesses in the Los Angeles area and said she and her aunt didn’t have money, investigators said.
Investigators also checked for building permits in Inglewood, California, pulled by Wang, but found none. Investigators said Wang didn’t have space for a second home on her property.
The duo is also suspected in another fraud where a Washington, D.C. victim lost $2.7 million in what the victim thought was for the purchase of a home in St. Petersburg, Florida, the arrest report highlighted.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Deputies say California man and woman steal almost $500,000 from Orange City victim
Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
