Eleven people pleaded guilty to participating in a $65 million money laundering operation in which prosecutors say Chinese nationals in the US worked with fraudulent call centers in India to steal millions from elderly Americans.
SAN DIEGO (CN) – Eleven people pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to their involvement in a $65 million multinational money laundering scheme that targeted elderly victims across the US.
According to press release from the Department of Justice.
The criminal network began in 2019 and took root in Southern California, where fraudsters, mostly Chinese nationals in the U.S. illegally, worked closely with fraud call centers based in India, according to the Justice Department. Scammers posed as tech support agents, government officials and bank employees in an attempt to steal money from unsuspecting elderly victims.
Scammers would use social engineering tactics to build trust with their victims, a Wang’s indictment says. They often contact victims via phone or email and then instruct them to download commercially available software in order to remotely access the victims’ devices, according to the indictment.
The Justice Department said victims were instructed to withdraw cash in bulk that they would conceal in packages and then send via mail carriers to addresses associated with short-term rental locations and names associated with fake IDs.
The defendants who pleaded guilty admitted to using a “hub-and-spoke” model to book short-term rentals, reserving a location for a week as a hub while reserving nearby properties for shorter stays where conspirators received bundles of cash.
An elderly victim who contacted a postal carrier after being scammed in December 2020 led to the discovery of 11 packages containing about $135,000 in cash, the Justice Department said. Each of the packages was addressed to a false name and a short-term rental location in San Diego.
After this discovery, the investigation into the nationwide fraud network began.
Wang admitted participating in the fraud scheme between 2019 and 2023 and was responsible for more than 2,000 money packages, each sent by an elderly victim, and $64 million in stolen funds.
Wang was arrested at his residence in Flushing, New York, shortly after his co-defendant Weining Su, 27, was arrested at JFK International Airport while trying to board a one-way flight to China, the Justice Department said. After Wang’s arrest, federal agents across the country coordinated a sweeping takedown of the fraud scheme, including arrests in Southern California, Texas, Michigan and New York, resulting in charges against more than 30 defendants in related indictments.
Authorities said they were helped by several YouTube videos posted in 2020 and 2021 that helped identify other members of the conspiracy and uncover the structure of the fraud, including YouTuber Pierogi from “Atonement of the impostors” and two other YouTubers from “Media Trilogy.” YouTubers reportedly coordinated sting operations to bait the scammers and then confronted them on camera before publishing the videos on their YouTube channels.
In addition to helping indict three of the defendants, the videos also helped shed light on the fraud operations and helped identify high-level members of the organization, the Justice Department said.
After defrauding their victims, the conspirators left the money as well.
Wang is awaiting a hearing on September 18, 2026, before US District Judge Todd Robinson, a Donald Trump appointee. More than a dozen other people are also scheduled to be sentenced throughout the summer.
Lawyers for Wang and Su did not respond to requests for comment.
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