(Boston Orange編譯) 包括波士頓華埠一家餐廳，以及一家Hanover電器行老闆在內的8個人，因涉及複雜的洗錢及匯錢陰謀，正被聯邦大陪審團起訴。
美國麻州檢察官辦公室發佈消息，指這8人把來自毒品的數以百萬計金錢，用複雜方式清洗，轉匯，還用偷來的或假的禮券買蘋果產品，運往海外。
根據美國檢察官的聲明，張世榮(譯音，Shi Rong Zhang)和他的前妻曾秋梅 (Qiu Mei
Zeng)是波士頓華埠泰勒街23號 China Gourmet餐廳的共同所有人，張世榮還在漢諾威 (Hanover) 擁有「美好電器 (Wonderful
Electronics)」，一家餐廳用品，以及電子產品公司。
該聲明稱，住在新罕布夏州 (NH) 溫德姆市的張世榮48 歲，住在昆士市的曾秋梅47 歲，被控串謀洗錢和無牌匯款。同案被告的還有住在昆士市，32 歲的
Vincent Feng ；住在麻州，30歲的曾大；曾偉慶，住在昆士市，58
歲的曾衛青 (譯音，Wei Qing Zeng)；住在漢諾威，45歲的曾祥榮 (譯音，Xian
Rong Zeng)；以及住在新罕布夏州溫德姆市，59 歲的邱芳曾
(譯音，Qiu Fang Zeng)。
檢察官說，另一名被告，住在碧樹市 (Braintree)，36 歲的劉成州 (譯音，Chengzou
Liu)被控串謀洗錢和持有並意圖銷售大麻。
美國檢察官Rachael
S. Rollins表示，這八人在表面上看似合法的企業內部經營精心策劃的陰謀。
Rollins說：“這份起訴書應該對從事非法洗錢活動的毒販和商業經營者形成嚴重警告：你是在從事犯罪行為，你會被聯邦法起訴。”
根據檢察官辦公室的新聞稿，檢察官指控張某和曾某用他們的業務做幌子，從事大規模洗錢和匯款活動，該計劃涉及數名同謀，包括他們的親屬曾偉慶、曾賢榮和曾秋芳。
該組織為接受來自波士頓和紐約的毒品錢收取費用，然後將等值人民幣轉進毒販的銀行賬戶，再以較低匯率把毒品錢賣給美國人。
經由在帳簿上不記載這些交易，該集團密謀隱藏資金來源，藉以逃避美國和中國的申報規定。
該組織成員還涉嫌使用偷來的或假的禮品卡購買數以千計的蘋果產品，運送到諸如杜拜 (Dubai)等地，經由電匯接受數千萬美元的付款。
檢察官稱，劉某涉嫌走私大麻並經由China
Goumet洗錢，將“金額很大，通常超過3萬元的一疊疊毒品收入”交付給餐廳和曾秋梅來洗錢。
今年 3 月，在Wei Qing Zeng 從紐約開車到波士頓餐館的路上，調查人員從他車裏查到藏在冷凍肉下面，懷疑是賣大麻所得的25萬美元。
(Boston Orange編譯) 包括波士頓華埠一家餐廳，以及一家Hanover電器行老闆在內的8個人，因涉及複雜的洗錢及匯錢陰謀，正被聯邦大陪審團起訴。
美國麻州檢察官辦公室發佈消息，指這8人把來自毒品的數以百萬計金錢，用複雜方式清洗，轉匯，還用偷來的或假的禮券買蘋果產品，運往海外。
根據美國檢察官的聲明，張世榮(譯音，Shi Rong Zhang)和他的前妻曾秋梅 (Qiu Mei
Zeng)是波士頓華埠泰勒街23號 China Gourmet餐廳的共同所有人，張世榮還在漢諾威 (Hanover) 擁有「美好電器 (Wonderful
Electronics)」，一家餐廳用品，以及電子產品公司。
該聲明稱，住在新罕布夏州 (NH) 溫德姆市的張世榮48 歲，住在昆士市的曾秋梅47 歲，被控串謀洗錢和無牌匯款。同案被告的還有住在昆士市，32 歲的
Vincent Feng ；住在麻州，30歲的曾大；曾偉慶，住在昆士市，58
歲的曾衛青 (譯音，Wei Qing Zeng)；住在漢諾威，45歲的曾祥榮 (譯音，Xian
Rong Zeng)；以及住在新罕布夏州溫德姆市，59 歲的邱芳曾
(譯音，Qiu Fang Zeng)。
檢察官說，另一名被告，住在碧樹市 (Braintree)，36 歲的劉成州 (譯音，Chengzou
Liu)被控串謀洗錢和持有並意圖銷售大麻。
美國檢察官Rachael
S. Rollins表示，這八人在表面上看似合法的企業內部經營精心策劃的陰謀。
Rollins說：“這份起訴書應該對從事非法洗錢活動的毒販和商業經營者形成嚴重警告：你是在從事犯罪行為，你會被聯邦法起訴。”
根據檢察官辦公室的新聞稿，檢察官指控張某和曾某用他們的業務做幌子，從事大規模洗錢和匯款活動，該計劃涉及數名同謀，包括他們的親屬曾偉慶、曾賢榮和曾秋芳。
該組織為接受來自波士頓和紐約的毒品錢收取費用，然後將等值人民幣轉進毒販的銀行賬戶，再以較低匯率把毒品錢賣給美國人。
經由在帳簿上不記載這些交易，該集團密謀隱藏資金來源，藉以逃避美國和中國的申報規定。
該組織成員還涉嫌使用偷來的或假的禮品卡購買數以千計的蘋果產品，運送到諸如杜拜 (Dubai)等地，經由電匯接受數千萬美元的付款。
檢察官稱，劉某涉嫌走私大麻並經由China
Goumet洗錢，將“金額很大，通常超過3萬元的一疊疊毒品收入”交付給餐廳和曾秋梅來洗錢。
今年 3 月，在Wei Qing Zeng 從紐約開車到波士頓餐館的路上，調查人員從他車裏查到藏在冷凍肉下面，懷疑是賣大麻所得的25萬美元。
Eight Indicted in Money
Laundering Ring
Two defendants owned Chinatown restaurant; over $250,000 in drug
proceeds hidden with frozen meat products seized during investigation
BOSTON – Eight individuals have been
indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for their alleged roles in elaborate
money laundering and money transmitting conspiracies that laundered tens of
millions of dollars’ worth of drug trafficking proceeds, as well as a
trade-based scheme that used stolen and/or fraudulent gift cards to purchase
and ship thousands of Apple products internationally.
The following defendants were
indicted on conspiracy to commit money laundering and unlicensed money
transmitting:
- Shi Rong Zhang, 48, of Windham, N.H.;
- Qiu Mei Zeng, 47, of Quincy;
- Vincent Feng, 32, of Quincy;
- Da Zeng, 30, of Massachusetts;
- Wei Qing Zeng, 58, of Quincy;
- Xian Rong Zeng, 45, of Hanover; and
- Qiu Fang Zeng, 59, of Windham, N.H.
Chengzou Liu, 36, of Braintree, was
also indicted on conspiracy to commit money laundering as well as possession
with intent to distribute marijuana.
“These defendants are alleged to
have moved tens of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds as part of
sophisticated money laundering and transmitting schemes operating out of
seemingly lawful businesses that serve Massachusetts residents,” said United
States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “Without money, there is no drug trade.
Laundering drug profits is fundamental to drug trafficking activity. By
eliminating the means by which drug suppliers clean their illicit proceeds, we
cut off the life blood of their operations: money. In doing so, we help
significantly limit the flow of drugs trafficked in our communities. We need to
do everything possible to make the Commonwealth safer and combat the drug
crisis. This indictment should serve as a serious warning to both drug
traffickers and business operators who engage in illicit money laundering: your
conduct is criminal, and you will be prosecuted under federal law.”
"Drug trafficking and money
laundering go hand in hand, and this crew is accused of using their
family-owned restaurant in Chinatown as a front for an elaborate, international
money laundering scheme and money transmitting business in which they conducted
tens of millions of dollars in off the books transactions to circumvent our
country’s laws, and hide the source of their income," said Joseph R.
Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Operation
Good Fortune is just one example of how the FBI and our law enforcement
partners work together to dismantle large-scale criminal enterprises."
According to the charging documents,
Qiu Mei Zeng and her former husband, Zhang, co-own China Gourmet, a restaurant
in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood. Zhang is also a registered owner of
Wonderful Electronics, an electronics and restaurant supply business based in
Hanover. It is alleged that the defendants used these businesses to run a
large-scale money laundering and money transmitting operation that involved the
laundering of drug proceeds and proceeds from stolen and/or fraudulent gift
cards.
During a months-long wiretap
investigation, Liu was identified as a marijuana trafficker who laundered his
drug proceeds through Qiu Mei Zeng and Zhang’s businesses. It is alleged that
Liu regularly delivered large amounts of bulk drug proceeds, typically in
amounts greater than $30,000, to China Gourmet, and to Qiu Mei Zeng, who then
laundered the money via electronic transfers. Additionally, in March 2022,
investigators allegedly seized over $250,000 of suspected marijuana proceeds
being transported by Wei Qing Zeng from New York to China Gourmet in Boston.
The cash was found inside Wei Qing Zeng’s vehicle, hidden under packaged frozen
meat products as it was en route to be delivered to China Gourmet.
To conduct the scheme, Qiu Mei Zeng
and Zhang allegedly worked with their co-conspirators – including family
members Wei Qing Zeng, Xian Rong Zeng and Qiu Fang Zeng – to launder hundreds
of thousands of dollars’ worth of drug proceeds in exchange for Chinese
Renminbi. Specifically, it is alleged that the defendants would accept drug
proceeds in Boston and New York for a fee, transfer the equivalent value of
Chinese Renminbi to drug traffickers’ bank accounts and “sell” the drug
proceeds to individuals in the United States at a discounted exchange rate.
Through these off-the-books transactions, the defendants conspired to avoid
United States reporting requirements, as well as China’s capital flight limits,
and to hide the nature and source of the illicit funds being transferred.
It is further alleged that Zhang,
Qiu Mei Zeng, Da Zeng, Feng and other defendants worked together on a
sophisticated trade-based money laundering scheme in which they used stolen
and/or fraudulent gift cards to purchase thousands of Apple products, which
they then shipped internationally to locations, including Dubai, in exchange
for tens of millions of dollars in wire transfers.
The charge of conspiracy to commit
money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to
three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the
value of the property involved, whichever is greater. The charge of unlicensed
money transmitting provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to
three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of
possession with intent to distribute marijuana provides for a sentence of up to
20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised
release and a fine of $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district
court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern
the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
U.S. Attorney Rollins; FBI SAC
Bonavolonta; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, New England Field Division; Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in
Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston;
Colonel Christopher Mason, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police;
Boston Police Acting Commissioner Gregory Long; Braintree Police Chief Mark W.
Dubois; and Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan made the announcement today.
Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by the United States
Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren A. Graber of Rollins’
Criminal Division is prosecuting the case.
This investigation, dubbed Operation
Good Fortune, is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
(OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the
highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a
prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional
information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
The details contained in the
charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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