Lead Defendant and 10 Others Plead Guilty in $65 Million Multinational Fraud Ring Targeting Thousands of Seniors

SAN DIEGO - Hua Wang pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting his involvement in a $65 million multinational fraud and money laundering scheme targeting elderly victims across the United States, including in San Diego. Videos by YouTubers from Scammer Payback and Trilogy Media helped law enforcement identify multiple defendants and uncover the structure of the fraud conspiracy.

Wang, shown below, is the lead defendant charged in the scheme. In April 2025, Wang was arrested at his residence in Flushing, New York just days after his co-defendant, Weining Su, aka "Ning Ma," was arrested at JFK International Airport attempting to board a one-way flight to China.

Following Wang's arrest, in August 2025, federal agents coordinated a sweeping nationwide takedown of the investigation, including arrests in Southern California, Texas, Michigan and New York. To date, more than 30 defendants have been publicly charged in related indictments.

In addition to Wang, over the past two months, nine co-conspirators, Xiao Lei Xu, Wen Chang Wang, aka "Cookies," Jiawen Cai, aka "Johnny Cai," Zhuhan Yin, Wenzhi Chen, Yuhui Sun, Jiaxin Jiang, Bing Shen and Chongchong Li, have also pleaded guilty in federal court and admitted their roles in the same scheme. Other defendants are scheduled to plead guilty later this month. Defendants Wen Chang Wang, Jiawen Cai, Zhuhan Yin, Yuhui Sun, Bing Shen and Chongchong Li are Chinese nationals.

Operating since at least 2019 and rooted in Southern California, the criminal network-primarily composed of Chinese nationals, many in the U.S. illegally-worked closely with India-based scam call centers. Fraudsters who took the calls posed as technical support agents, government officials, or bank employees, according to court records. Once a victim had been defrauded, victims were instructed to withdraw bulk cash, to conceal the cash in packages, and to send cash-laden packages via express mail carriers to names and addresses provided by the conspirators. The recipient names were fictitious names corresponding with fake IDs. The recipient addresses were for the short-term rental locations.

In their respective plea agreements, each defendant admitted that to facilitate receipt of victim packages, members of the conspiracy booked short-term rentals in a hub-and-spoke pattern: a hub would be booked for approximately one week; spoke locations would be booked nearby for shorter stays. After some time, members of the conspiracy would relocate to a new location and continue the pattern.

The investigation started in December 2020 after an elderly victim contacted an express mail carrier after being defrauded into sending bulk cash in the mail. That led to the discovery of 11 total packages, containing approximately $135,000 in cash. Each of the packages was addressed to a fake name and a short-term rental in the San Diego area.

The investigation also led to the discovery of several YouTube videos posted in 2020 and 2021 that helped identify other members of the conspiracy. YouTuber Pierogi from "Scammer Payback"- which is known for exposing scammers-documented his interaction with the India-based scam call centers. In a series of videos, Pierogi from Scammer Payback teamed up with two other YouTubers from "Trilogy Media" to publish videos on their respective YouTube channels.

In coordinated sting operations, Scammer Payback and Trilogy Media baited fraudsters, confronted them on camera, and published those videos to their respective YouTube channels. Videos posted in 2020 and 2021 helped law enforcement identify Zhiyi Zhang, Dudu Chen and Huajian Chen. All three are named in the indictments. The videos also helped shed light on how the conspiracy operated and led to the identification of high-level members of the organization.

After defrauding victims, members of the conspiracy laundered the proceeds of the fraud scheme. For example, in March 2021, several members of the conspiracy, including Hua Wang and Xiao Lei Xu, were operating in Las Vegas, Nevada. On March 4, 2021, co-conspirator Xiao Lei Xu was stopped by law enforcement on the way to the Los Angeles area carrying $70,000 in bulk cash that were proceeds of the scheme. Just eight days later, on March 12, 2021, Hua Wang, Xiao Lei Xu and a third co-conspirator were stopped traveling from Las Vegas to Los Angeles again. This time, law enforcement seized $120,860 in fraud proceeds.

In total, Hua Wang admitted that he participated from 2019 through 2023 and was responsible for over 2,000 cash packages, each sent by an elderly victim, and $64 million in victim loss.

Sentencing hearings for each of the defendants are scheduled before U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson as set forth below.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mokhtari and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Rookard.

DEFENDANTS

Case Number 25-cr-1097-TWR

Hua Wang Age: 48 Flushing, NY

Weining Su, aka "Ning Ma" Age: 27 Flushing, NY

Case Number 25-cr-1762-TWR

Hongsen Cao, aka "Shawn Cao," Age: 24 Los Angeles, CA

Case Number 25-cr-1765-TWR

Xiao Lei Xu, aka "Xiaolei Xu" Age: 39 Flushing, NY

Wen Chang Wang, Age: 26 Detroit, MI

Jiawen Cai, aka "Johnny Cai" Age: 28 Flushing, NY

Xinyu Shao Age: 27 Flushing, NY

Zhuhan Yin, aka "Iron Yin" Age: 30 Flushing, NY

[Redacted]

Ziyue Zhao, aka "Chris Zhao" Age: 30 Flushing, NY

Guangli Lin Age: 30 Flushing, NY

Wenzhi Chen Age: 23 Austin, TX

[Redacted]

Jiaxin Wang Age: 24 Flushing, NY

[Redacted]

Haotian Zhang, aka "Kevin Z" Age: 28 Flushing, NY

Dudu Chen, aka "Norris Chen" Age: 31 In Custody

Yuhui Sun, aka "Ian Sun" Age: 27 Flushing, NY

Jiaxin Jiang, aka "YiYi" Age: 26 In Custody

Dexiao Lin, aka "Prozac" Age: 27 Flushing, NY

Zhiyi Zhang, aka "Cream Pablo" Age: 29 Los Angeles, CA

Zhiwei Chen Age: 30 Levittown, NY

Bing Shen Age: 41 Flushing, NY

Zetian Zhang Age: 29 Flushing, NY

Huajian Chen, aka "Marco Chen" Age: 24 Austin, TX

Chongchong Li Age: 29 Los Angeles, CA

Jianhao Gao, aka "Gh Ghao" Age: 31 Flushing, NY

Case Number 25-cr-2208-TWR

Cheng Li Age: 28 In Custody

Case Number 25-cr-3371-TWR

Kaiwen Zhang Age: 32 Irvine, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Count 1 - Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud - Title 18, U.S.C., Sections 1349, 2326

Maximum penalty: Forty years in prison; a maximum $1 million fine

Count 2 - Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments - Title 18, U.S.C., Section 1956(h)

Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison; a maximum $500,000 fine or twice the amount of monetary instruments involved in the offense, whichever is greatest

INVESTIGATING AGENCIES

Homeland Security Investigations

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation

San Diego County Sheriff's Department

San Diego Law Enforcement Coordination Center

San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (SBSD)

San Diego County District Attorney's Office

Mountain View (CA) Police Department

Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FLDE)

Alachua County (FL) Sheriff's Department

Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (LA IMPACT)

Irvine (CA) Police Department

La Verne (CA) Police Department

Mesa (AZ) Police Department

Sarpy County (NE) Sheriff's Department

U.S. Postal Inspection Service

*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

For further information, see previous press release.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.