On Tuesday (18th), a Chinese-American woman in Los Angeles County was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison for leading a large-scale international money laundering operation. Her group primarily transferred illicit funds to fraud organizations in China and Hong Kong, involving amounts exceeding tens of millions of US dollars.
The sentenced woman is named Cynthia Song, also known as Iris Song and Xin Wang, aged 43, residing in the city of Arcadia, known as the “Beverly Hills of Chinese people.”
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Song has been in custody since October 2024 and pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit money laundering on June 10 this year. Federal District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. made the final decision on Tuesday, imposing a 121-month sentence and ordering her to pay approximately $10.07 million in restitution.
As per the plea agreement, Song’s money laundering scheme facilitated the transfer of over $11.7 million in fraud proceeds involving around 180 victims, most of whom were elderly individuals across the United States. The scammers, mainly residing outside the US, impersonated law enforcement officers, government officials, or computer support personnel to deceive the elderly.
Between December 2022 and October 2024, Song conspired to launder millions of dollars of fraudulent proceeds. The scammers persuaded victims to transfer large sums, sometimes even their entire savings, into bank accounts controlled by Song and her accomplices.
Initially operating under her own name, Song, for instance, in December 2022, deceived multiple victims into transferring at least $170,850 into an account under “SW Prosperity Real Estate Development LLC,” controlled by her. Subsequently, the money was swiftly withdrawn and transferred abroad, mostly to accounts in mainland China.
Soon after, Song became the manager of the money laundering syndicate, recruiting at least 15 individuals to join the transnational criminal network. Most of the recruits were Chinese residents in Los Angeles, some of whom were illegal immigrants. Song and her recruited launderers opened dozens of business bank accounts dedicated to receiving and transferring fraudulent proceeds.
In her plea agreement, Song admitted that she knew the money was from criminal activities and had warned her accomplices that the funds were “dirty.”
Throughout the criminal operation, Song would instruct her subordinates on how to handle bank investigations on suspicious transactions, providing various false reasons, victims’ documents, and other information to deceive banks to avoid freezing accounts or funds. If an account was frozen due to suspected fraud, Song and her associates would immediately switch to new accounts to continue laundering.
Whenever they received payments from fraud victims, Song would command her accomplices to quickly withdraw or transfer the funds, deduct a 5%-10% commission, and then send the remaining amount to the main fraud organizations in mainland China and Hong Kong. In total, Song and her partners laundered about $11.7 million, with only $2.736 million being frozen or recovered by financial institutions.
Prosecutors wrote in the sentencing memorandum, “These crimes have caused severe harm to the victims: some lost all their savings, some fell into self-blame, regret, or even depression. Many victims who had hoped to enjoy a peaceful retirement life have now been deceived of their savings, ruining all their life plans.”
With scammers employing increasingly sophisticated methods, more and more elderly individuals are falling victim to fraud. The Department of Justice reminds that if a senior has experienced financial fraud, they can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311) in the US. Reporting certain types of financial losses promptly can enhance the likelihood of recovering funds.