Friday, January 23rd, 2026
Auglaize Co. police arrest alleged scammer
From staff reports
Auglaize County authorities used information from a reported scam victim Wednesday to arrest one of the alleged scammers at the victim's house.
According to a news release from the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office, a St. Marys Township resident advised the sheriff's office on Jan. 12 that he had been scammed out of "a large sum of money."
The victim stated he was communicating with the scammers via telephone and messaging applications, according to the report. The victim explained the scam started out as a work-from-home opportunity that actually turned into an IT scam. The victim was directed to wire large sums of money to the scammers, who represented that they would then provide his money in cryptocurrency to "recover his lost funds," according to the report.
Per the release, the victim did wire money to the scammers, and was then encouraged to provide another large sum of money to expedite his "case recovery." The victim then withdrew money from his account, and a male suspect arrived at the victim's residence on another day to pick up the money. After this first pick-up was completed, the scammers continued to communicate with the victim and instructed him to provide an additional large sum of money, the report said.
Per the release, it was at this point that the victim realized he was the victim of a scam and contacted the Auglaize County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 12 to make a theft report.
"During conversation between the victim and reporting deputy the victim agreed to cooperate with our office to investigate the suspects by continuing to communicate and arrange a second pick up," the report from the sheriff's office said. "Our office coordinated with the Grand Lake Task Force, FBI Lima Office and Safe Streets Task Force, as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection."
When the suspect arrived at the home Wednesday as scheduled for the second pick-up, he was immediately arrested, the report said. Police identified the suspect as Chuan Zhao, 43, of Brooklyn, New York. According to the report, Zhao was also identified as a citizen of the People's Republic of China who was in the U.S. under legal documents.
Zhao was transported to the Auglaize County Corrections Center, where he was charged with two counts of theft by deception, a fourth degree felony.
In the release, Auglaize Sheriff Mike Vorhees reminded residents to be vigilant for scams and to reach out to local law enforcement if they feel they might be a victim.
