Federal prosecutors have indicted two New York residents, Zhuoying Chen, 27, and Haojie Zhang, 38, for their involvement in a money laundering operation that reportedly funneled over $43 million obtained from online investment scams. The indictment alleges that they orchestrated a complex network using more than a dozen accomplices who opened 140 bank accounts tied to around 45 shell companies between 2020 and 2022.
The accounts reportedly collected funds from victims of scams that involved scammers building trust via social media before urging them to invest in fraudulent schemes, often shown with fake returns and account balances. Once the victims invested, the scammers vanished with the funds, transferring money to co-conspirators in China.
Chen and Zhang made their first court appearances in Brooklyn, facing a potential 20-year prison sentence if convicted of the charges.
