Dubbing himself the "Supreme Commander," a Chinese man has been operating a fake U.S. Army unit of his own devise. The recruits wore full military uniforms and paraded Los Angeles streets, all under the guise of future U.S. citizenship.
If allegations are true, Yupeng Deng, 51, pulled no stops in marketing -- providing the supposed Army "recruits" with full military uniforms and even parading the crew through a Los Angeles suburb. The “Army unit” was also taken to a decommissioned USS Midway aircraft carrier, a spot serving as a San Diego, California, museum.
The ploy wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart or lunacy: the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office accuses Deng of charging a hefty price to “recruits” in order to join up: roughly 100 Chinese nationals paid $300 to $450 each in order to belong to the fake Army unit, devastatingly promised to aid in their destiny of citizenship.
Recruits were given fake documents and equally fake military identification cards by the El Monte resident. The "Supreme Commander" probably didn't count on what happened next, when counterfeiting documents: the FBI became involved after an investigation began a few years ago -- when local police began noticing something very odd: people pulled over for traffic stops were producing fake military identifications rather than proper identification.
The bogus squad operated under the name of “U.S. Army/Military Special Forces Reserve” (MSFR) unit, operated by himself as "Supreme Commander.”
After charging “Army recruits” to join, Deng allegedly upped his marketing skills by tehn urging unit members to pay him even more cash, in order to obtain a higher military rank.
Deng’s being held on bail most have never heard of, at half a million bucks, and unique charges to match: theft by false pretenses, manufacturing deceptive government documents and counterfeit of an official government seal.