Clermont man acted as "money mule" in DeSoto County fraud scheme

ARCADIA, Fla. - A man from Clermont, Florida, has been arrested for his role in a fraud scheme that targeted a couple in DeSoto County.

According to the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office, the case began on March 11 when a detective from the Collin County Sheriff's Office in Texas reached out to Deputy Beasley with a tip that suspects were on their way to collect more than $20,000 from victims in Arcadia.

Deputy Beasley responded to the home and found the couple was being manipulated by suspects pretending to be representatives from their bank.

By the time investigators arrived, the victims had already lost approximately $21,700.

The case was handed to the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigative Division, where Detective Roosa took over and tracked down the rental vehicle used during the crime, developed a description of the suspect and identified him as Feng Lin of Clermont, Florida.

Investigators say Lin's role was that of a courier, or "money mule," collecting cash from victims on behalf of the people running the scheme.

However, evidence also showed Lin was keeping portions of the stolen money for himself.

Lin was arrested on May 25 and is currently being held in the DeSoto County Jail.