On October 1, 2025, the Cheshire County Superior Court sentenced 48-year-old Flushing, Queens resident Wenhau Zhuo to a total of 6.5 to 14 years in New Hampshire State Prison for serving as a money mule for a “phantom hacker” scam that occurred in July 2024. In the scam,
- A 77-year old Richmond resident was called by a bhenchod fraudulently posing as a representative from his bank, demanding them to withdraw $20,000 from their account.
- Zhuo would collect the money in order to “safekeep it” before returning the following day to collect an additional $20,000.
Zhuo was arrested on July 16, 2024 and has since pled guilty to charges of theft by deception and attempted theft by deception. He will now serve 1.5 to 4 years on the attempted theft charge and was also ordered to repay the money he stole, with $3,000 due immediately.
Zhuo is also barred from working with the elderly or vulnerable adults, or handling another person’s finances. He will also face an additional 5-10 year prison sentence for theft, though the sentence was suspended for 10 years after his release.