Xianbing Gan, 51, was sentenced to 14 years in federal court in Chicago for money laundering. (U.S. District Court trial exhibit)
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) uncovered a Chinese money laundering ring in Chicago and New York through years of wiring and tracking. Gan is believed to be the first Chinese money laundering syndicate executive to be tried and plead guilty in the United States.
According to the court, the money laundering service operated by Chinese is “fast and cheap” and has become a major conduit for Mexican drug lords to “launder black money” in the past five years. The group’s financial operations have turned this huge amount of cash into legal funds.
The group was targeted for frequently handing over cash in front of Chinese stores in Chicagoland’s Mexican neighborhood
The former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration Giuffre (Mark Giuffre) said agents from the second half of 2015, noticed that the Mexican drug lords gradually transferred the “money laundering” business to the Chinese in charge, before this, these illegal proceeds are through the Mexicans to deal with the “bleaching “The law enforcement officials found that Chinese businesses in Chicago’s Chicano-populated Little Village, Cicero, Aurora and other towns have become the location for handing over cash from drug trafficking.
The Chicago Sun reported that Giffredi said the Chinese money laundering system has been running for several generations and the process is smooth, so it is faster and cheaper than the services provided by Mexicans. In addition, Mexican drug cartels used to have to transfer large amounts of cash obtained from drug deals to the U.S.-Mexico border, with a high risk of being caught, while the Chinese money laundering services do not need to do so at all.
Chinese money laundering members undercover
According to court documents, Lim admitted to the DEA in late 2019 that she was a member of a money laundering network in Chicago and New York, and that the money laundering group she worked for handled $48 million in 2016 and 2017. alone handled up to $48 million in drug trafficking proceeds.
At the DEA’s request, Lin contacted a Chinese money laundering broker in the United States to open an in-depth investigation by the law enforcement agency.
No need to go through the U.S. financial system “mirror swap” 3 hours to complete
These Chinese brokers received business, will be received in U.S. dollars in cash, into the equivalent amount of yuan, and then from the broker’s bank account in China, transferred to the entrusted money launderer in China’s bank account, completely without going through the U.S. financial system, this is called “mirror swap” (mirror swap) money laundering method. It takes about three hours to complete.
Chicago federal agents said that the yuan deposited in the entrusted money launderer’s Chinese bank, then transferred to a bank account in Mexico, so that no paperwork will show any record of the exchange of dollars for yuan.
150,000 commission for 3 million monthly transfers
Lin Shi Feng stated that she assisted drug traffickers in laundering $3 million per month, with a commission of $150,000 (0.5%), and that she was formerly in the shoe business in China.
The arrest of Gan Xianbing, one of the heads of the money-laundering ring, was made in 2018 when he flew from Mexico to Hong Kong for a connecting flight in Los Angeles, court documents show, because Gan Xianbing was arrested on charges of facilitating illegal transfers while living in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Gan Xianbing’s lawyer said he originally did shoes business in China, and therefore met Lin Shi Feng, in 2011, he used the money earned to open a seafood export company in Guadalajara, the lawyer said, Gan Xianbing later found that through the export company, you can help local people to avoid the restrictions of Mexican banks, the money remitted from China, and he can also receive a commission, “he is Unknowingly, he was involved in the drug cartel’s money laundering.”
Even drug lord El Chapo was a client of the Chinese money laundering ring
An affidavit filed in federal court in Chicago last October states that federal agents continue to investigate such money laundering operations in Chicago, and documents show that investigators from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are looking into the money laundering network of the Sinaloa Cartel, a notorious group led by the now-imprisoned man nicknamed “El Chapo” drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman Loera.
According to testimony, agents are seeking permission to search the assets of a money laundering suspect in Chicago who is a money laundering broker in Mexico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, and who handles drug dealer cash across Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Kansas City, and Florida.
Chinese brokers in cryptic transactions are deeply afraid of being cheated or killed
The law enforcement authorities said that the money laundering group involved in Lin Shi Feng, generally use code words, such as Chicago is “the windy” (The windy), New York City, “the towers” (The towers), from their electronic communication records show that these for The Chinese working for the money laundering group, on the one hand, fear of being cheated, on the other hand, also fear of being arrested by the United States, and even more fear of being killed by the drug cartel.
The court documents of Huazhi Han, another Chinese money laundering suspect who was arrested, mentioned that money launderers usually receive calls from Mexicans specializing in cash deliveries, and then both sides agree on a meeting place and describe the characteristics of the vehicles they drive. The money launderer then handed over a dollar bill with serial number G5925410C to serve as proof of Han’s identity, and then the courier took $200,000 in cash to Han, but the courier who delivered the money was actually an agent posing as one, and Han was therefore arrested and is still awaiting trial before a judge.
Prosecutors created a money laundering roadmap to illustrate how the Chinese money laundering ring operates. (U.S. District Court trial exhibit)
Lin Shi Feng took photos of the $340,000 in cash delivered by the drug traffickers and transmitted them to the responsible unit in China, who then deposited the equivalent amount in RMB into his own account and then transferred it to the account of the person who commissioned the money laundering, and then remitted it to Mexico.
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