Yue Zhu

On July 4, 2025, Deputy Buckentin of the Carver County Sheriff’s Office received a fraud report from, M. C., who lives on Arnica Drive in the City of Watertown, Carver County. M. C. Indicated that she had received an email purportedly from PayPal regarding unauthorized transactions on July 3. M. C. Stated she then contacted the customer service number on the email and was assisted by different individuals in attempting to initiate a refund to her account. During this process M. C. Was advised to enter information into a form on her computer, but was told that she had transferred substantially more into her own account.

M. C. Was then advised by the individual on the phone to go and withdraw $19,999.00 from her own account to pay back the amount she was “mistakenly” refunded; the individual on the phone repeatedly told M. C. That he would be fired if M. C. Did not help fix the mistake. M. C. Drove to two different banks to withdraw the funds and was initially directed to deposit the money into a Bitcoin ATM, however that was unsuccessful. M. C. Was then directed to go home and that a courier named “Kevin” would be sent to collect the funds from her.

M. C. Was directed not to take any photos of Kevin or his vehicle and to only provide the funds if Kevin was able to provide a code word. Kevin ultimately came to M. C.’s Watertown residence and obtained the cash at approximately 6:10 PM on July 3, 2025. M. C. Later reported that Kevin was a younger male with a darker complexion and wearing a medical facemask. Kevin was driving a newer SUV that was gray in color. Deputy Buckentin contacted the number used by M. C. For PayPal and learned that the number was not actually associated with PayPal and was part of a scam.

Detective Rosholt was assigned to further investigate the matter. Through a series of search warrants, Detective Rosholt learned that three individuals had queried M. C.’s address via Google on July 3—one in India, one in New Mexico, and one in Wisconsin. The individual in Wisconsin was later identified to be Yue Zhu [DOB REDACTED], hereinafter Defendant. Detective Rosholt also obtained Defendant’s IP address showing Defendant had been in the City of Chanhassen approximately 30 minutes after “Kevin” had been at M. C.’s residence.

Detective Rosholt was made aware that Defendant had been the subject of an investigation in Polk County Wisconsin on a similar matter. On April 10, 2025, a resident of Polk County had called law enforcement indicated they believed they had been scammed and a courier was supposed to come and pick up approximately $14,000. Upon leaving the residence, Polk County Deputies located Defendant walking up the victim’s long rural area driveway. Defendant claimed to be having car troubles, and law enforcement subsequently located Defendant’s Porshe Cayenne nearby.

Defendant was subsequently charged with Attempted Theft in Court File 2025CF000185. Detective Rosholt obtained information from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office indicating that during a search warrant of Defendant’s residence, numerous receipts and documents were located tying Defendant to obtaining large amounts of gift cards, cash, and 2 10-CR-26-291 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 4/7/2026 gold from individuals in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Detective Rosholt later obtained cell phone records for Defendant which showed Defendant’s cell phone pinging off a tower in Watertown at 6:02 PM on July 3, 2026. Defendant matched the physical description of “Kevin” given by M. C., however M. C. Was unable to identify Defendant in a photo lineup as of October of 2025. During a voluntary statement, Defendant confirmed the phone number and email address used in Watertown at the time of the courier’s pickup and at the Chanhassen McDonald's were his.