According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, on Tuesday, in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, the Honorable Margaret Schweitzer sentenced Wenhui Sun, 35, of Lake Arbor, CA, to 20 years in prison, suspending all but 6.5 years to serve, followed by five years of supervised probation. Sun was also ordered to pay $457,410.34 in restitution.
In October 2024, Sun, then 34, pleaded guilty to theft scheme over $100,000, theft over $100,000, attempted theft over $100,000, and conspiracy to commit theft over $100,000.
Sun participated in a scheme that defrauded an elderly woman in the Leisure World community of Silver Spring out of nearly $800,000, primarily in gold bars. The scam, part of an international organized crime operation, aimed to steal more than $1.1 million.
Similar gold bar scams have been reported in Montgomery County and across the United States. Assistant State’s Attorneys Hannah Gleason and Robert Hill prosecuted the case.
“This is the first gold bar scam case to enter the courts in Montgomery County, and we are pleased it resulted in a conviction. These scams often target vulnerable victims who lose their life savings at a time when they need them most. We are grateful to the Montgomery County Police Fraud Division, particularly Detective Sean Petty, for his tremendous work on this case. This is significant organized crime at an international level, and we pursued a sentence that reflects the seriousness of the impact on this victim,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
