California Man Creates Fake Army, Fleeces Enlistees

He gets points for imagination: A Chinese national living in California created a fake Army Reserve unit of his very own, then tricked about 100 Chinese nationals into paying for the privilege of enlisting, reports KTLA-TV. Yupeng Dang turned his office into a fake recruitment center in 2008 and doled out fake IDs and uniforms to those who forked over an initial $450, say police. He told recruits it was an easy path to citizenship.

Deng's "soldiers" didn't do any fighting, of course, but they did march in a parade and tour the Midway museum in full uniform. Alas, their "supreme commander" faces eight years in prison on various fraud charges. Authorities also found child pornography in his home, which could add another three years to the sentence. (More con artist stories.)