East Bay woman accused of elder theft hit with federal charge

A suspect accused of defrauding a Greenbrae resident is now facing a federal case in addition to a local one.

Qingyun Chen, 30, of San Leandro was arrested last month on allegations she stole more than $50,000 from a 79-year-old woman through an internet scam. The Marin County District Attorney’s Office charged her with grand theft and theft from an elderly adult.

Since then, federal authorities have charged Chen with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. An FBI affidavit says the victim received an online alert that claimed that her laptop was frozen and that she needed to call an 800 number to unfreeze it. Chen conned the victim into paying couriers money to fix the computer, the FBI alleges.

In the Marin case, Judge Kelly Simmons set a hearing for March 6 to take Chen’s plea and get an update on the federal case.