Two of three men in custody in connection with what prosecutors are calling a complex conspiracy involving email scams.
The arrest of a sixth person in eight months on charges of extortion related to emails on Wednesday prompted Douglas County to conduct a senior scam seminar on Friday.
The seminar was hosted jointly by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Better Business Bureau at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center, 1329 Waterloo Lane in Gardnerville.
Two men arrested on May 2 after a traffic stop in Genoa required a Mandarin translator on Wednesday in East Fork Justice Court where they face charges involving the theft of $90,000, according to prosecutors.
Lirui Diao, 21, and Junyan Wu, 22, have appeared in East Fork Justice Court twice since their arrest in a traffic stop on Jacks Valley Road.
Quan Fu Ma, 45, of San Francisco, was arrested Wednesday on Wagon Drive in the Gardnerville Ranchos on similar charges.
Quan Fu Ma“The arrest of these individuals was the culmination of investigations conducted jointly by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the Tri-Net Narcotics Task Force,” Sheriff Dan Coverley said on Thursday. “These types of schemes usually start with a legitimate-looking email from someone claiming to be from Microsoft or a notification that the recipient has a new subscription to a service that the recipient never wanted.  The email correspondence quickly escalates into threats if the victim does not pay the sender.”
During a bail hearing on Saturday, prosecutor Ric Casper described the case as complex involving severe felony charges of extortion and theft carrying up to a decade in prison.
“This is a crime involving a network and a conspiracy of individuals,” he said. “The victim lost $90,000 and this was an attempt to steal more than $50,000 more.”
Casper said that Diao entered the country in January 2024 on a student visa that expired two months later, and his visa is in overstay status.
“Given his tenuous immigration status, he could leave this country at any moment if released,” Casper said in arguing for cash bail for Diao. “He is an extreme risk of nonappearance.”
Casper said that it appears the crime crossed state lines between California, where Daio lives, and Nevada.
Coverley said immigration officials are researching the two men’s immigration status.
On Friday morning, Ma appeared in East Fork Justice Court where he is facing felony charges of exploitation of the elderly and extortion, and a gross misdemeanor conspiracy charge.
Prosecutor Heidi Remmick requested Ma's bail be set at $50,000, saying he had a history of involvement in organized, large-scale criminal activity. Ma said through a Mandarin translator that he could afford to hire an attorney.
The case is similar to that of two others currently in Douglas County courts.
One man, Minglong Chen, 46, faces up to 20 years in prison at his June 24 sentencing on one count of exploitation of an elderly person.
Chen admitted last month to taking $90,375 from a 93-year-old Minden resident.
Two women were arrested in January for similar crimes.
Cindy Yaohua Guo, 43, appeared in East Fork Justice Court and a hearing was set to June 25. The woman arrested with her, Zhu Ping Ge, 39, failed to appear in court on April 22 and has a $50,000 warrant out for her arrest. On Wednesday, East Fork Justice of the Peace Laurie Trotter ordered bail forfeiture procedures to begin in Ge’s case.