The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
New York man accused of stealing $500,000 in gold bars from Pennsylvania woman
A New York man is accused of stealing more than $500,000 worth of gold bars from a woman in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
www.cbsnews.com
New York man accused of stealing $500,000 in gold bars from Pennsylvania woman
By
Michael Guise
July 15, 2025 / 9:26 PM EDT / CBS Pittsburgh
A New York man is accused of stealing more than $500,000 worth of gold bars from a woman in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
In a news release, the Ephrata Police Department said 44-year-old Zhong Ren of Brooklyn is facing a list of charges, including theft by unlawful taking and theft by deception.
Ephrata police said an investigation started in April after a woman contacted the department to report the theft of $555,892 worth of gold bars. Officers said they learned scammers gained access to the victim's computer in March and convinced her to turn her life savings into gold.
Police said the scammers told the victim someone was trying to withdraw funds from her accounts, telling her to purchase gold bars and turn them over to "federal employees." The woman was told the gold would go to a Federal Reserve vault in Philadelphia as the "fraud claim" was being investigated, Ephrata police said.
In April, individuals claiming to be federal employees stopped by the woman's house on two occasions to collect $555,892 worth of gold bars, officials said. One of those people was Ren, authorities said. Ephrata police, citing sources, said in the news release that Ren "could be a member of an international criminal organization that perpetrates these types of fraudulent activity."
The 44-year-old New York man was arraigned, and bail was set at $550,000. He was then taken to the Lancaster County Prison.
Ephrata is about 44 miles east of Harrisburg.