A New York woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in connection with a years-long $30 million investment scam that, among other things, sold foreign nationals access to a 2017 fundraiser for President Donald Trump and a photo-op with the president.
Sherry Xue Li pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip, Long Island, to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration of campaign finance.
The Oyster Bay resident “orchestrated a nearly decade-long scheme to defraud investors in a fictitious development project out of more than $30 million,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.
“As part of the scheme, Li and her co-defendant Lianbo Wang falsely promised those investors that their investments would guarantee them lawful permanent resident status in the United States,” the office said.
Li and Wang also sold foreign investors access to American politicians at “fundraisers by collecting foreign-sourced funds from them and unlawfully contributing those funds to U.S. political campaigns and committees,” the office said.
