Theft/Property — Hawaii, HI — reported 2026-07-08
SUMMARY
A 51-year-old man from China is facing a federal criminal charge in Hawaii after he allegedly hid his background as a lieutenant colonel in the People’s Liberation Army and Communist Party leader on his visa application.
KEY FACTS
- Incident type: Theft/Property
- Location: Hawaii, HI
- Date reported: 2026-07-08
- Suspect: age 51
- Status: arrested, charged
REPORTED DETAILS
- Fanlin Lin is a 51-year-old man from China who was arrested in Hawaii.
- Lin allegedly hid his background as a lieutenant colonel in the People’s Liberation Army and Communist Party leader on his visa application.
- He was issued a 10 year B-1/B-2 visa on June 27, 2017, based on his visa interview where he described his purpose of travel as a cultural visit to Hawaii.
- Lin's PLA discharge certificate listed him as having joined in 1994 and left service in 2011, leaving the PLA as a lieutenant colonel and having been last assigned as an officer with the Chemical Defense Command Engineering College.
- He allegedly admitted that he had been employed by China’s army and had basic firearms training as a part of his military service.