By Denise Rivette
According to court documents, a fraud investigation begun by the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office in early 2024 reached its conclusion at trial July 29 with U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters sentencing Wei Jia Luo, 42, a Chinese national, to two years and three months in prison and an order to pay $181,000 in restitution to the Carbon County man he defrauded. When he completes his prison term, Luo will be deported back to China. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI conducted the investigation.
But the case doesn’t end there. The plea agreement signed by Luo included $181,000 to be paid to the victim immediately, but the sentencing does not state when or how the victim is to receive his restitution. The U.S. Attorney’s office responded that they do not comment on active cases when asked who makes sure restitution is paid to the victim and if restitution had been paid in this case.
The government alleged in court documents that Luo ran an internet scam and stole $182,000 from a 73-year-old Carbon County resident.
According to authorities, the investigation started when the Carbon County man called the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office on May 8, 2024, to report that he had been scammed. The man was on his computer in March when a pop-up window told him to contact Microsoft. Through a series of messages, the man was led to believe that he was “out of compliance” with the Federal Trade Commission and that to get back into compliance he would need to provide large sums of money to a bank courier.
The man pulled out $76,000 from various bank accounts and headed to meet the courier on April 6, 2024. The man arrived at the designated location and met the courier named Ethan, who he described as an Asian man in his 30s wearing sunglasses and a medical mask. He handed over the $76,000 and Ethan left.
A few days later, the scammers contacted the man again telling him that more money was needed for him to regain full compliance with the FTC. Returning to the designated location on April 11, 2024, the man this time paid Ethan $53,000. The scammers contacted the man a third time, telling him still more money was needed. The victim liquidated a $50,000 investment and handed it over to the scammers on May 1, 2024. He was also instructed to buy a number of gift cards from Apple and Lowes that added up to $5,000, and hand those over. According to the U.S. Attorney’s press release, the man lost $182,000 to the scammer. (The total is $184,000 if the above detailed numbers they provided are accurate).
Using rental car records and then flight data, investigators eventually identified Ethan as Wei Jia Luo, successfully matching an image of him to surveillance footage of Luo getting off a plane. Luo was arrested on July 31, 2025, in Arizona. He was carrying five fake Texas driver’s licenses, a Chinese passport with Luo’s picture but a different name, gift cards, and over $10,000 in cash.”
Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan would like people to know that anyone of any age or intellect can be scammed in a vulnerable moment. If you believe you may be the victim of a scam, contact local law enforcement immediately. The sooner a scam is reported, the more likely it is that the scammer will be caught and property recovered.
Montana Independent News will keep readers updated periodically until it is confirmed that the victim has received restitution.
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