U.S. prosecutors on Thursday charged a New York man and woman for their roles in a large-scale crime ring that laundered money stolen in cyber investment fraud scams.
27-year-old Zhuoying Chen and 38-year-old Haojie Zhang allegedly managed a network of over a dozen people based in Queens and Brooklyn between 2020 and 2022.
Chen and Zhang allegedly transferred at least $43 million in proceeds from investment scams laundered to bank accounts in China by the criminal network using 140 bank accounts under roughly 45 shell companies, according to an unsealed indictment.
The underlying schemes involved criminals contacting potential targets via social media or messaging services to build trust and persuade them to invest in fraudulent opportunities. Victims were then shown fake profiles with profits to encourage further investment before additional funds invested in the scheme were stolen.
"For nearly two years, these two Chinese nationals allegedly ran a sophisticated, illicit network that laundered funds stolen from unsuspecting victims' life savings," noted Executive Associate Director John A. Condon of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
