By Forum Staff
A former director of Constituent Services in the Community Affairs Unit for the City Mayor’s Office has been arrested in connection with a scheme to steal millions of dollars from financial institutions, which resulted in the theft of over $10 million, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
Tommy Lin, 41, of Forest Hills, was charged in a superseding indictment along with Zhong Shi Gao, a/k/a “George,” and Fei Jiang, a/k/a “Jeffrey,” a/k/a “Brother Fei,” who were previously arrested in November 2023.
According to the allegations in the superseding indictment unsealed Thursday in Manhattan federal court:
Lin previously served as the director of Constituent Services in the Community Affairs Unit for the NYC Mayor’s Office between in or about 2014 and in or about 2019. As part of his responsibilities, Lin served as a senior advisor to the City Police Department’s Asian Advisory Council.
Between at least in or about 2018 and in or about 2022, Lin participated in a scheme with Gao, Jiang, and others to steal millions of dollars from banks by causing transfers of funds between accounts they controlled, then falsely and fraudulently reporting that the transfers were unauthorized, which induced the financial institutions to credit them the amount of the transfers. The scheme was responsible for over $10 million in actual losses to nearly a dozen banks.
Lin participated in the bank fraud conspiracy by, among other things: providing names and dates of birth for potential accountholders to be used in the scheme, running background checks on members of the scheme to ensure that law enforcement was not investigating them, and accepting approximately $20,000 in cash in exchange for arranging for a deportation officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest a disgruntled accountholder who had previously participated in the scheme.
Lin is charged with one count of bank fraud conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed.
The maximum potential sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
“Tommy Lin, a former director in the Mayor’s Office, allegedly participated in a scheme to defraud more than a dozen financial institutions of at least $10 million by submitting illegitimate fraud reports to force the banks to reimburse them. To facilitate this conspiracy, Lin allegedly assisted members of the scheme in running background checks and accepted a significant cash bribe to arrange the arrest of a slighted accountholder by immigration authorities,” FBI NY Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said. “Those in municipal offices are expected to conduct themselves with rectitude and obedience to the law, not engage in the purposeful manipulation of our economic infrastructure. The FBI is committed to ensuring all citizens, especially those in positions of authority, adhere to financial regulations and will investigate individuals who seek to profit from fraudulent plots.”
