Two Members of Chinese Money Laundering Network Charged With Laundering Over $43 Million in Pig Butchering Proceeds
An indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on July 16, 2026, charges Zhuoying Chen, also known as “Jolene,” of Brooklyn, and Haojie Zhang, also known as “Kevin,” of Queens, with money laundering conspiracy for their roles in a Chinese money laundering network that laundered proceeds of cyber investment fraud scams known as “pig butchering.” The two were arrested that day and were to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge James R. Cho. The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty; if convicted, each faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
According to the indictment, between 2020 and 2022 Chen and Zhang managed a network of more than a dozen people based in Queens and Brooklyn who opened bank accounts in the names of shell companies to launder investment-scam proceeds. In pig butchering schemes, perpetrators contact victims through messaging or social media applications, build trust, and persuade them to send money for lucrative investment opportunities, showing fake profits to draw in more money before stealing the funds.
The indictment alleges that Chen and Zhang conspired with China-based co-conspirators to move the proceeds abroad, overseeing about 45 shell companies and 140 company bank accounts, located primarily in the Eastern District of New York, used to launder at least $43 million in criminal proceeds. U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the defendants were key members of a sophisticated network that funneled over $40 million in victim funds to bank accounts in China.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation in New York, the FBI's New York Field Office, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and is being prosecuted by the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Justice Department's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section.
Related: California Man Sentenced to 120 Months in $46.4 Million Public Benefits Fraud and Laundering Case
Source: IRS Criminal Investigation
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国纽约州纽约市布鲁克林区的联邦法院大楼（资料照片），本案在此所在的纽约东区联邦法院起诉。Ajay Suresh 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York (file photo), in the Eastern District of New York, where the indictment was unsealed. Ajay Suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
