Buyers urged to beware as two Chinese nationals charged in gold artifacts fraud

VANCOUVER — An investigation that stretched from British Columbia to San Francisco has led to charges against two Chinese nationals, accused in a scheme to sell what RCMP allege are phoney gold artifacts.

Mounties in Richmond, B.C., say they were contacted by a man who claimed he purchased what he was told were priceless Chinese artifacts, but soon discovered the gold figures and ingots were fake.

The complaint was received late last month and members of Richmond’s Economic Crime Unit were able to link it to a similar complaint in neighbouring Surrey.

Cpl. Marco Sallinen says two suspects were identified and, with help from Canada Border Services Agency and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, arrests were made on Jan. 6.