Immigrant Victims: Brooklyn’s Chinatown
Loan Club scams victims out of millions
Na Lin, 50, joined other 10 victims at a meeting with the police in Sunset Park, Brooklyn last January. The two police officers and the victims made a circle around a folding table in the office of the Brooklyn Community Improvement Association (BCIA), a Chinatown community nonprofit. Stifling air filled the basement space. Lin sat next to one of the officers, her lips pressed tightly together. She looked troubled, as did the dozen other people in the room.
The meeting was initiated by Louie Liu, vice president of BCIA, after Na Lin and the group told him about the $2 million scam in which they had lost money. He felt obligated to inform law enforcement. Among other community service projects, Liu is the founder of Brooklyn Asian Civilian Observation Patrol (BACOP), a neighborhood patrol group that now numbers 50 volunteers.
BACOP helps make Chinese immigrants feel more comfortable on the streets, as they help police to deter crime, particularly against the elderly. But the recent investment scam was something Liu’s patrol force could not deter. All he could do was ask police to listen and, perhaps, offer some hope for recovery.