Reputed Chinese gangster nabbed in Rockville Centre on bank fraud charges

Joseph Mo Pun Lau, a citizen of Hong Kong who is reputed to be the head of a Chinese crime gang, was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 27 on four counts of bank fraud, three counts of mail theft and one count of illegally re-entering the U.S. after having been deported.

Lau was arrested at 80 S. Centre Ave. in Rockville Centre on July 9 by officers from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Secret Service, along with detectives from the Wilton, Conn., Police Department, for his alleged role in a complex bank fraud scheme.

According to David S. Fein, the U.S. attorney for the state of Connecticut, Lau, 52, was arraigned on Aug. 5. He is alleged to have created a false key for post office deposit boxes in Wilton, which he used to steal checks. Investigators said he stole 48 checks from 38 Connecticut residents. After altering the checks, the indictment alleges, Lau deposited the counterfeited documents, worth more than $90,000, into 22 accounts under four fake names in Bank of America, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase and Wachovia branches across Connecticut.

According to the indictment, Lau, who was deported from the U.S. in 2007 following a 2005 conviction in Pennsylvania on charges of bank fraud, possession of U.S. mail keys and mail theft, is also being investigated by New York state postal inspectors for a similar mail-stealing scheme.

Authorities did not explain what Lau was doing in Rockville Centre and why he was arrested there. Also unclear is his connection to the unidentified Chinese gang.

If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison on each of the bank fraud charges, five years on each of the mail theft counts and 10 years on the illegal re-entry count.

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