A Chinese citizen was sentenced in the U.S. to 15 years for laundering $92 million
A federal court in the Western District of North Carolina sentenced 31-year-old Chinese citizen Jianfei Lu to 15 years in prison for participating in a money-laundering scheme linked to proceeds from drug trafficking. The court also ordered him to pay $25 million, according to the South China Morning Post, citing the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, over a two-year period, Lu was involved in laundering more than $92 million in illicit funds. He collected cash from drug traffickers in the U.S. and deposited it into the bank accounts of shell companies, using both real and fictitious identities.
According to court documents, Lu, acting as a courier, personally received and deposited more than $20 million in cash into the accounts. He also helped manage the money-laundering operation: he coordinated activities with drug traffickers in the U.S. and instructed other couriers to collect and deposit large sums of cash. To do this, they used forged driver’s licenses, which Lu helped obtain, according to the case files.
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In July 2025, Lu pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money, two counts of concealing the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of illicit proceeds, as well as on two counts of transactions involving property of criminal origin totaling more than $10,000. As part of his plea agreement, he confirmed that he was aware of the laundering of between $25 million and $65 million, including proceeds from drug trafficking.
Lu was one of six defendants named in the original indictment who pleaded guilty, and he was the first among them to be sentenced. Also involved in the case are Chinese citizen Yenhua Fan and New York resident Shu Jun Zhen. According to court documents, Fan was the primary leader of the operation, while Lu carried out some of her duties when she was in China. Three other defendants pleaded guilty to money laundering involving amounts ranging from $20 million to $30 million.
