FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to Prison for Government Impersonation Scam
Defendant Stole Approximately $18,000 from Williamsburg Woman
Who Was Falsely Told She Faced Arrest
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Sunset Park man has been sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years in prison for his role in a government impersonation scam that stole $18,200 from a 22-year-old Williamsburg woman after she was falsely told there was a warrant for her arrest.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These scams are designed to frighten and manipulate people into handing over their hard-earned money. I urge anyone who is the target of a scam to report it immediately and know they are not alone. We will continue to aggressively investigate these schemes and hold accountable those who prey on members of our community.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Weiwei Xu, 39, of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Warin to one and a half to four and a half years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny on August 11, 2026.
The District Attorney said that on July 17, 2025, the victim received a telephone call from an individual who falsely identified herself as a United States Marshal and told her that there was an open warrant for her arrest for money laundering and that her identity had been compromised. The caller told the victim she would have to pay money to clear the purported warrant and kept her on the telephone for more than four hours.
According to the investigation, the caller directed the victim to withdraw $13,000 from her bank account and deposit it into another account. When the victim’s bank blocked the transaction due to suspected fraud, the caller instructed her to return home and wait for someone to collect the cash. Later that day, two unidentified men arrived at the victim’s home and one of them provided a passcode that had been given to the victim by the caller before taking the $13,000.
The caller continued contacting the victim over the next several days, according to the evidence. On July 20, 2025, the victim contacted Shomrim and called 911. A New York City Police Department officer responded to her home and, while taking a report, answered another call from the scammer, identified himself as a police officer and told the caller to stop contacting the victim.
Later that evening, the scammer again called the victim and demanded that she turn over the remaining $5,200 in cash, telling her that an undercover detective would collect the money the following day. The victim reported the planned pickup to Shomrim and police.
On July 22, 2025, at approximately 12:55 p.m., after the victim had alerted law enforcement, the defendant drove a black Cadillac to the victim’s home and met her outside. He provided the prearranged passcode, identified himself as “Jack” and took the $5,200 in cash. The defendant was stopped shortly afterward by Shomrim and police, who recovered the victim’s money from his vehicle and arrested him.
Following the defendant’s arrest, an investigation conducted by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office identified 12 telephone numbers associated with the scheme and determined that the scammers used internet-based phone services with IP addresses located in several countries in Asia.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Han Zhang and Assistant District Attorney Kellen Michuda, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kin Ng, Bureau Chief.
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