Follow-Up: Final Two Defendants Plead Guilty in $65 Million Fraud Ring Targeting Seniors: All 25 Arrested Defendants Have Now Pleaded Guilty, Three Fugitives Remain
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, in San Diego, San Diego County, California, announced that Haotian Zhang and Zetian Zhang, the last two defendants in a $65 million multinational fraud scheme that preyed on thousands of elderly victims, pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday, October 23. All 25 defendants arrested in the August 2025 nationwide takedown have now pleaded guilty, while three charged defendants remain fugitives. Haotian Zhang, a Chinese national, was remanded into custody by U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson following his plea.
Over the past few months, eight other defendants — Guangli Lin, Cheng Li, Weining Su, also known as Ning Ma, Hongsen Cao, Xinyu Shao, Renchao Chen, Dexiao Lin and Zhiyi Zhang — have also pleaded guilty for their roles in the fraud and money laundering scheme, and Huajian Chen and Jianhao Gao recently pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmission business.
According to court records, the Southern California-based network, primarily composed of Chinese nationals, operated since at least 2019 and worked closely with India-based scam call centers. Callers posed as technical support agents, government officials or bank employees, and defrauded victims were instructed to withdraw bulk cash, conceal it in packages and send the packages via express mail to short-term rentals booked under fictitious names, in a hub-and-spoke pattern in which a hub was booked for about a week and spoke locations nearby for shorter stays before the group relocated.
The investigation began in December 2020, after an elderly victim contacted an express mail carrier about a cash-laden package, leading agents to 11 packages containing approximately $135,000 in cash addressed to fake names at short-term rentals in the San Diego area. Videos posted in 2020 and 2021 by Pierogi of the YouTube channel Scammer Payback and by Trilogy Media also helped investigators identify Zhiyi Zhang, Dudu Chen and Huajian Chen.
Sentencing hearings before Judge Robinson are scheduled between November 6, 2026, and February 19, 2027. Bing Shen has already been sentenced to 70 months in custody, and Na Rong, in a related case, to 78 months. Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud carries a maximum of 40 years in prison and a $1 million fine, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments a maximum of 20 years, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business a maximum of five years. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Rookard, and was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, among other agencies.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 位于美国加利福尼亚州圣迭戈县 San Diego 市的 Edward J. Schwartz 联邦法院大楼资料照片，本案认罪与量刑程序在此所属的加州南区联邦地区法院进行。照片：Federal Judiciary，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: the Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse in San Diego, San Diego County, California, home of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, where this case is being heard. Photo by the Federal Judiciary, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-04-02$65 Million Fraud Ring Targeting Seniors Dismantled: 28 Alleged Members of a Chinese Organized Crime Ring Charged
- 2026-10-26Follow-Up: Final Two Defendants Plead Guilty in $65 Million Fraud Ring Targeting Seniors: All 25 Arrested Defendants Have Now Pleaded Guilty, Three Fugitives RemainThis story
