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This is a weird one. The FBI says that David Deng tricked Chinese nationals into paying him $300 and up (plus annual renewals) to enlist in what he called an elite U.S. special forces unit. It operated out a storefront in Temple City. Andrew Blankstein in the L.A. Times with the yarn:
Together, they marched in local Chinese New Year parades and even received a special military tour in uniform at the USS Midway museum in San Diego. Chinese-language newspapers ran photos of the troops with prominent community leaders.But prosecutors on Tuesday charged that Deng's "U.S. Army/Military Special Forces Reserve" was actually a huge immigration scam that preyed on Chinese immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley desperate to become citizens.
Authorities allege that Deng charged members of his "army" $300 to $450 to join plus an annual $120 renewal fee. He told them that joining the group would increase their chances of becoming U.S. citizens, according to court papers. The more money they donated to the organization, he allegedly told them, the better their chances of becoming citizens.
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FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the investigation began three years ago after local police began noticing that some people pulled over during traffic stops produced fake military identifications. Last year, one Chinese-language newspaper reported that an Alhambra taxi driver was arrested near Los Angeles International Airport after producing counterfeit military identification while trying to get out of a traffic stop.
It gets worse: Some recruits "were so convinced that they were part of the U.S. military that they actually visited real Army recruiting centers and tried to pay their monthly dues directly to the U.S. government."
SGV Tribune: Deng will be arraigned on Wednesday in Pomona Superior Court. He is being held on $500,000 bail.