Xizhi Li, a Chinese national and naturalized US citizen, recently pleaded guilty to partaking in a conspiracy to launder over $30 million in drug proceeds for foreign drug-trafficking organizations for several years. Authorities have also sentenced Tao Liu, a co-conspirator from Hong Kong, to seven years in prison.
Li used foreign and domestic bank accounts and front companies as well as fake passports and other identification documents to launder money for transnational drug-trafficking organizations which primarily trafficked cocaine. He was in direct contact with people involved in the drug-trafficking organizations. Li and his co-conspirators would obtain a contract to launder the drug proceeds, and then conduct financial transactions to conceal the illicit source of the original funds. The drug-organizations paid them commissions in lieu of the laundering. Liu helped Li to execute the money laundering scheme. He accepted bulk drug cash on behalf of Li, and later deposited it into bank accounts that Li provided.
Li will receive his sentence on October 26, 2021. His penalty could be up to 20 years in prison in addition to a forfeiture of $10 million. Meanwhile, Liu, who has received a 7-year jail sentence, had pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy alongside a separate bribery charge on April 14, 2021.
Source: US Department of Justice