US: 33-Year-Old Pleads Guilty to Laundering Over $500,000 Stolen From 24 Americans

• Binghui Liu, a 33-year-old Chinese national living in San Jose, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering
• Liu collected cash from 24 victims across California and Nevada between March and April 2025, posing as a federal official
• Liu faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 4, 2027

Binghui Liu, 33, a Chinese national formerly residing in San Jose, California, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering after collecting approximately $597,100 from 24 victims across California and Nevada by impersonating a federal law enforcement officer or government employee.

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced the guilty plea in Fresno, California. Court documents reveal that between February 2024 and April 2025, Liu acted as a money launderer for a wider network of co-conspirators running a government-impersonation fraud scheme.

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How the fraud scheme worked

Scammers, operating from both within the United States and overseas, including India — contacted victims and falsely claimed that criminal charges had been filed against them and that their bank accounts were at risk of being frozen.

Victims were told to withdraw their savings in cash and hand the money over "for safekeeping," with assurances that a federal official would arrive to collect it. Code words, fabricated names, and instructions on how to package the cash were all part of the deception.

In one case detailed in court documents, an elderly victim received a call from someone claiming to be a U.S. Marshal, who alleged there was an arrest warrant and that the victim's bank accounts were in jeopardy.

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The caller coached the victim on how to withdraw the funds, what to say at the bank, and how to prepare the money for collection. Liu and other co-conspirators then arrived in person, posing as federal officials, and collected the cash. That single victim lost more than $700,000.

Sting operation leads to arrest

Liu's role in the scheme came to an end on 9 April 2025, when FBI agents set up a sting operation. Liu arrived at what he believed was a genuine victim's home and collected what he thought was $20,000 in cash. The money was fake. He was taken into custody at that point.

At no stage was Liu a federal law enforcement officer or a federal government employee.

The FBI conducted the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cody S. Chapple and Arelis M. Clemente prosecuting the case.

Liu is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff on 4 January 2027. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transactions, whichever is greater. The actual sentence will be determined at the court's discretion.

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Ghanaians among foreigners facing US citizenship loss over offenses

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that the two Ghanaians are among 40 foreign-born individuals facing denaturalisation in the United States after the Department of Justice filed complaints against them in what officials described as an unprecedented effort.

The cases against Francis Darko Asamoah, 56, and Dexter Anson, 72, were filed on consecutive days in late September and early October.

Source: YEN.com.gh