CHALFONT, Penn.–A man was arrested at a credit union here for allegedly attempting to fraudulently withdraw funds from a home equity line of credit.
An employee of Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union (MSDFCU) contacted New Britain Township Police to report a forgery in progress, according to police reports cited by NorthPennNow.com.
Police said the accused, Yi Sun, 62, of Flushing, N.Y., was still in the credit union when officers arrived, where he was pointed out by branch staff, the report stated.
Lost in Translation
“Police said that, when they spoke to Sun, he said he did not speak English,” NorthPennNow.com reported. “Reports said that Sun tried to use his iPhone’s translator to speak with police. Credit union staff said that Sun had been speaking English somewhat prior to police arrival.”
The publication further reported that MSDFCU staff told police Sun had allegedly presented them with a fake Pennsylvania driver’s license with a name of “Chao Li” and attempted to withdraw $58,000 from a preexisting home equity line.
Account-Holder Contacted
“Staff had reached out, according to reports, to the account holder to ask if anyone was authorized to take money out of the account, and the owner said that no, no one was authorized and to call police, which staffing then did,” NorthPennNow.com reported.
The report added that staff at the credit union discovered that a secondary account holder, listed as Chao Li, was on the account, and that Sun was attempting, per police reports, to allegedly impersonate that individual. The account’s owner aided police, according to police, in allegedly learning Sun’s real identity, finding he was not Li but Sun.
Sun has been charged with four felonies, including counts of Forgery, unauthorized act in writing, Identity Theft, Theft by Deception, with false impersonation, and Receiving Stolen Property.