UPDATE Sunday 7/13/25 12:20 p.m. – Zeng has been located in Connecticut and taken into custody. See initial report below.

SULLIVAN COUNTY, N.H. (MyKeeneNow) – A New York man charged with fraud for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly Charlestown man has escaped from the Sullivan County House of Corrections, authorities say.

Jianming Zeng, 33, of Brooklyn, New York, reportedly escaped custody during an outdoor recreation period shortly after 3:30 Saturday afternoon.

He’s described as 5’8” and was last seen wearing orange clothing. Investigators say he is not considered a threat to the public, but anyone who sees Zeng should not approach him, and contact police immediately.

Court records show the victim was targeted after receiving an alert about a suspicious PayPal charge. When he called the phone number listed, scammers convinced him to install software that gave them control over his computer. They tricked him into filling out a fake form and made it appear he had mistakenly received a $50,000 refund, then pressured him to return the money.

The victim withdrew $25,000 and handed it over in a package at his home to a so-called “money mule” sent by the scammers. They then demanded the remaining $25,000. When the victim tried to wire the rest, his bank flagged the transaction as suspicious and alerted police.

Working with officers, the victim staged a fake second handoff. He withdrew money from the bank and sent a photo to the scammers, pretending the transaction was complete, then returned the cash to the bank. Police outfitted him with a body camera and gave him a package filled with paper to give the mule.

When the suspect returned for the second pickup, Charlestown police arrested Zeng. They also chased down and arrested the driver, Guohang Lin, 42, of Ridgewood, New York. Both face Class A felony charges of theft by deception over $1,501.