New York Woman Sentenced to Nine Years in $92 Million Chinese Money Laundering Network Case
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on October 21 that Shu Jun Zhen, 31, of New York, was sentenced that day in the Western District of North Carolina to nine years in prison and ordered to forfeit nearly $23 million. Prosecutors described her as a prolific member of a Chinese money laundering organization that laundered more than $92 million in illicit funds in less than two years, including proceeds from illegal drugs imported and distributed in the United States, primarily through Mexico. Zhen is the second defendant from the organization to receive a significant sentence.
According to court documents, Zhen worked as a courier for the organization, collecting drug trafficking proceeds from U.S.-based traffickers and depositing the cash, using both real and fake identities, into shell company bank accounts registered by other members. She personally picked up and deposited approximately $23 million in bulk cash.
In July 2025, Zhen pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy, one count of concealment money laundering, and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction involving criminally derived property greater than $10,000, admitting she knew the funds included drug trafficking proceeds.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Criminal Division said Chinese money laundering networks are essential to the survival of the drug trade and that the Criminal Division is targeting every link in the drug trafficking supply chain through the Homeland Security Task Force initiative. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina said the organization moved over $90 million in illicit funds back to transnational criminal organizations in less than two years.
The case was investigated by the DEA Charlotte District Office and IRS Criminal Investigation's Charlotte Field Office, with assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and prosecuted by the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：执法部门从使用该洗钱组织服务的贩毒团伙处缴获的约67万美元现金与12支枪械。图片来源：美国司法部（案件 U.S. v. Shu Jun Zhen）。Photo: Approximately $670,000 in U.S. currency and 12 firearms seized from a drug trafficking organization that used the laundering network. U.S. Department of Justice.
- 2026-08-18Follow-Up: Chinese Money Laundering Organization Manager Jianfei Lu Sentenced to 15 Years in $92 Million Scheme
- 2026-10-21New York Woman Sentenced to Nine Years in $92 Million Chinese Money Laundering Network CaseThis story
