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).
"As alleged in the indictment, the defendants laundered fraud proceeds, enabling scammers to continue to victimize Americans and deprive them of their hard earned money," Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division added.
If found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering, Chen and Zhang face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
According to the FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report, investment fraud accounted for 49% of all scam-related incidents last year, resulting in reported losses of $8.6 billion, up from $6.5 billion in 2024.
In February, a fugitive linked to a $73 million international cryptocurrency investment scheme (also known as pig butchering or romance baiting) was also sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison. 42-year-old Daren Li was the first defendant directly involved in receiving victim funds to be sentenced among eight other accomplices who have also pleaded guilty in the same case.
The Justice Department charged four additional suspects in December for their involvement in another pig butchering scheme tied to more than $80 million in losses.
In November, U.S. federal authorities established the Scam Center Strike Force (a new task force aimed at disrupting crypto-scam networks) after the U.S. Department of Justice seized $15 billion from the leader of Prince Group (a massive criminal organization that targeted Americans through cryptocurrency investment scams).
Since the start of the year, European authorities have also dismantled two investment fraud rings responsible for estimated losses of over €150 million to victims worldwide.
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