A pretrial hearing for a 24-year-old Monterey Park man charged with scamming at least $140,000 from a victim in Santa Ana is scheduled for July 21 in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
Ge Yu pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of conspiracy to commit a crime and one count of attempting to fraudulently obtain property, labor or services under false pretenses, all felonies. Yu also faces sentencing enhancements for aggravated white collar crime between $100,000 and $500,000.
The criminal complaint alleges Yu sent phishing text messages to victims, posing as a Social Security, Treasury or other governmental agent. The text messages offered to assist the victim with identity theft, the complaint alleged…