By Alex Robinson
A Queens woman pleaded guilty to conning three Flushing women out of large amounts of money through a trick known as the “blessing ritual,” the Queens district attorney said.
Prosecutors charged Fengluan Qin, 50, who approached her victims in the street with an accomplice and told them a family member would become ill or die if they did not throw their cash and valuables in a bag and have it blessed, the DA said. The bag would then be swapped during the blessing ritual with an identical bag full of trash. The victims would be told not to open it for a month and Qin would leave with their valuables, according to prosecutors.
“This particular con game is prevalent in Asian communities across the county and the targets of the scam are oftentimes elderly immigrant women,” Queens DA Richard Brown said. “People should be aware that this is just one of many confidence tricks used by individuals to swindle money from vulnerable people and should not fall victim to it.”
Qin, a Chinese national with no known address in the United States, made off with $106,000 in total from the three victims, Brown said.
Qin, who told police she was destitute and homeless, pleaded guilty to one count of larceny and two counts grand larceny, the DA said. She also admitted she owes $10,000 to her victims and that she must repay that amount. The Queens district attorney’s office said it would be going after $7,500 Qin had wired from China for bail.
The first victim, a 53-year-old woman, was approached at a bus stop on Northern Boulevard April 3 and lost $20,000 after being told by Qin her son would die that night if she did not put her cash and valuables in a bag and have them blessed, according to the criminal complaint.
The same was done to a 57-year-old woman on the corner of 76th Street and Broadway April 9 when the blessing ritual was performed and Qin made off with $25,000, the DA said.
Qin made off with $61,000 from her third victim who she approached at the corner of Northern Boulevard and 147th Street April 10, according to the criminal complaint. In this instance, Qin and an accomplice told the 73-year-old woman all her money and jewelry needed to go to a doctor who could ensure her children would not die, Brown said.
The third victim spotted Qin at the New World Mall on Main Street three days later and was able to detain her until police arrived. Police only recovered $4,765 in Qin’s purse at the time of her arrest, a spokesman for the district attorney said.
Similar blessing scams have cost victims hundreds of thousands of dollars in the 109th Precinct alone over the last year.
Qin will be sentenced Dec. 18 and is expected to face up to three years in prison, the DA said.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
