Los Angeles Man Sentenced to 12 Years for $59 Million Benefits Fraud and Laundering Proceeds to China
On April 30, 2026, in Harrisburg, the state capital in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Bruce Jin, 61, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer P. Wilson to 144 months (12 years) in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments involving about $59 million. Jin was ordered to forfeit more than $59 million. He had pleaded guilty on January 29, 2025.
According to prosecutors, Jin and fellow Los Angeles residents Brian R. Cleland, 72, and Carlos A. Grijalva, 60, pretended to operate legitimate businesses selling masks and other COVID-19 personal protective equipment to obtain state unemployment compensation and other public funds by fraud. Members of the conspiracy, including some believed to be located in China, used stolen personal information to open thousands of bank accounts across the United States and generate fraudulent unemployment claims that were paid by Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and other states.
Jin received more than $12 million through companies he controlled, Ample International and Jin Commerce, while the group obtained more than $45 million more from victims' accounts through ACH transfers. Jin then wired more than $35 million internationally to a bank account of a company in China and more than $2 million to the individual who controlled it. Cleland and Grijalva have both pleaded guilty. The case was investigated by the FBI and the Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General.
Source: 美国司法部宾州中区联邦检察官办公室
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部总部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼秋日立面（资料照片）。美国之音，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons；联邦固定图库司法部两张轮换图之一。 / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington in autumn (file photo). Voice of America, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; one of two rotating images in the federal fixed image library.
