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News & Announcements => News Headlines => Hmong News => Topic started by: fOrEvEr_sUn_76 on February 01, 2017, 02:22:39 AM

Title: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: fOrEvEr_sUn_76 on February 01, 2017, 02:22:39 AM
A Twin Cities man has been convicted of defrauding his Hmong elders out of more than $1.7 million by promising each of them land and a home in a future homeland in Southeast Asia. Federal jurors in St. Paul took two hours last week to find Seng Xiong, 49, of Maplewood guilty of wire fraud and mail fraud in a trial that spanned more than two weeks. Sentencing has not been scheduled. “Seng Xiong took the Hmong people’s tragic history of war and displacement and manipulated that for his own benefit,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber Brennan in a statement announcing the conviction. Xiong ran his fraud scheme from at least September 2014 to March 2016 until he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while trying to board a flight to Thailand. Under an organization he named “Hmong Tebchaws,” he directed elders to deposit $3,000 to $5,000 into a bank account held in his name. In exchange, they were each promised 10 acres of land already set aside, a house and the benefits in a future country established as a Hmong homeland somewhere in Southeast Asia. He claimed to be working with the White House and United Nations to establish the country.

Ha so much for Hmong teb chaws. :2funny: Kinda feel bad for those elders now. :-\


To read the original article go here:
http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-man-convicted-of-stealing-1-7m-from-hmong-elders-in-new-homeland-scam/412267663/ (http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-man-convicted-of-stealing-1-7m-from-hmong-elders-in-new-homeland-scam/412267663/)

(http://stmedia.stimg.co/ows_148586986282966.jpg?w=525)
(Seng Xiong, age 49, arrested for fraud and scam)
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Gucci K on February 01, 2017, 07:11:49 AM
welp...sounds look like he's found his hmong tebchaw, except it's a 6x8 ft room with bars! 
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: theking on February 01, 2017, 09:38:08 AM
Primitive is, primitive does...

So much for "Tsov tsis tom tsov".... ;D
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Reporter on February 01, 2017, 01:08:21 PM
Many elderlys were quite ready to accept the claim of a Hmong country.

Of course, they didn't know two very important things: 1. the UN does not have the authority to grant anyone a country, and 2. US citizens cannot take over a country or create a new country that is not authorized by the US's federal government.

A few months before the arrest and put the wiring to rest on Seng Xiong, I was at a store and ran into an old lady on the cashier line. She said many guys have dropped their jobs and were preparing to leave for the Hmong country.

"We will have health care waiting for you," she quoted the guy who said that to her.

"M'am," I said to the lady. "You and many of your friends and relatives are old now. You are not going to start a new life somewhere else. What you have in Saint Paul here is enough for your lifetime. Do not drop everything here and go there."

"I know. I don't know how good their services are yet," she said. "I don't want to lose my benefits here."



Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: baddabing on February 02, 2017, 06:47:26 PM
He wasn't alone, there are others helping him promote his idea to the elders, those few other folks should be arrested too. If they're also victims they should be arrested for stupidity.

Despite the crime and arrest, I still say vote seng xiong for Hmong president.

Sent xiongs my hero because I thought about this ridiculous scam before but didn't believe it would actually work on Hmong people. He proved that it does work. Jk ;D
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: nightrider on February 06, 2017, 08:31:33 PM
There's nothing wrong with having a dream. But misleading gullible people that they have the backing of UN or White house in establishing a home land just goes to far. This is a small case, the feds must have nothing better/important to do other than target this small fry. I bet the agent in charge of this case is a dev hmoob, doing all just for a piece of bone.   
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Believe_N_Me on February 13, 2017, 06:30:19 PM
Where is the money?

Hmoob mas qhov tsimnyog txhawb mas tsis txhawb. Qhov uas yog cuav xwb mas nim ho muaj muaj siab thiab vam vam.

Oh welps, that Xiong guy will have all the time in the world to dream about Hmoob tebchaws.



Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: joot on February 14, 2017, 01:00:21 AM
^^ Many of you are too young to remember but there was a scam way way from the 80's called Neo Hom.  This involved the BIG MAN himself (yawg Loj). 

Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: nightrider on February 14, 2017, 05:37:59 PM
^^ Many of you are too young to remember but there was a scam way way from the 80's called Neo Hom.  This involved the BIG MAN himself (yawg Loj).

But wasn't that for a good cause, to continue support of the resistance as the war over in Laos had never ended?
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: joot on February 14, 2017, 06:51:32 PM
Yes, publicly that was the original focus of the group.  But later on, those in control started selling political positions like generals, colonels, mayors, governor, police chief, etc.  You can pay for such positions in the new administration in case they overthrown the current government.
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: nightrider on February 14, 2017, 11:10:41 PM
Yes, publicly that was the original focus of the group.  But later on, those in control started selling political positions like generals, colonels, mayors, governor, police chief, etc.  You can pay for such positions in the new administration in case they overthrown the current government.

Selling political seats is a classic throughout all ages. If there's no such thing, we wouldn't have politics.lol Just look at America's political system, it's follows the same scheme.
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Lyn Song on February 17, 2017, 02:49:29 PM
Never thought that one of our own would try to scam our people like this.
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: theking on February 17, 2017, 03:20:16 PM
Never thought that one of our own would try to scam our people like this.

Sadly, there's no such thing as the ignorant claim of "Tsov tsis tom tsov"...because fact is, there are bad apples in every basket from what I've seen...
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: theking on February 17, 2017, 03:21:48 PM
Back in the early 90's alot of those Hmong home invasion cases were Hmong vs. Hmong so again, no such things as the ignorant claim of "Tsov tsis tom tsov" whether in human or animal form...
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: lexicon on February 17, 2017, 03:23:17 PM
Remember those Hmong Orgs that had members pool their money, to be used and repaid? I wonder how many individuals fell for that.
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Hung_Low on February 25, 2017, 08:03:31 PM
A Twin Cities man has been convicted of defrauding his Hmong elders out of more than $1.7 million by promising each of them land and a home in a future homeland in Southeast Asia. Federal jurors in St. Paul took two hours last week to find Seng Xiong, 49, of Maplewood guilty of wire fraud and mail fraud in a trial that spanned more than two weeks. Sentencing has not been scheduled. “Seng Xiong took the Hmong people’s tragic history of war and displacement and manipulated that for his own benefit,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber Brennan in a statement announcing the conviction. Xiong ran his fraud scheme from at least September 2014 to March 2016 until he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport while trying to board a flight to Thailand. Under an organization he named “Hmong Tebchaws,” he directed elders to deposit $3,000 to $5,000 into a bank account held in his name. In exchange, they were each promised 10 acres of land already set aside, a house and the benefits in a future country established as a Hmong homeland somewhere in Southeast Asia. He claimed to be working with the White House and United Nations to establish the country.

Ha so much for Hmong teb chaws. :2funny: Kinda feel bad for those elders now. :-\


To read the original article go here:
http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-man-convicted-of-stealing-1-7m-from-hmong-elders-in-new-homeland-scam/412267663/ (http://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-man-convicted-of-stealing-1-7m-from-hmong-elders-in-new-homeland-scam/412267663/)

(http://stmedia.stimg.co/ows_148586986282966.jpg?w=525)
(Seng Xiong, age 49, arrested for fraud and scam)

Isn't this scam been around for decade?
I remember some Hmong OG came and talk to my dad about a new Hmong country being formed in Laos. All he need to do was pay some money to get a pin and that pin will guarantee him to be an official once the country is formed and he moves back. We all had a great laugh about it...
This was way back in the late 80s and early 90s.
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Reporter on March 01, 2017, 02:39:53 PM
You are right. Here's proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_om6D6ulLoY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_om6D6ulLoY)


Back in the early 90's alot of those Hmong home invasion cases were Hmong vs. Hmong so again, no such things as the ignorant claim of "Tsov tsis tom tsov" whether in human or animal form...
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Reporter on March 01, 2017, 03:01:21 PM
And rats fight one another, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVIgUVmb4JY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVIgUVmb4JY)

You are right. Here's proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_om6D6ulLoY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_om6D6ulLoY)
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: Meestahh_Prince on May 03, 2017, 11:45:20 PM
The fact he made a statement that would never crossed the mind of the zebra Hmoob does make me doubt if he's really scamming the elders...if his ambition was real he's not wrong, his approach with the claim of backing from UN is wrong.
Title: Re: Maplewood man convicted of stealing $1.7M from Hmong elders in homeland scam
Post by: YAX on May 22, 2017, 02:41:17 PM
Dang.  $5,000 for 10 acres of land and a house eh.  Sign me up!  ;D