Chinese Nationals Charged in LA with Operating Illegal Money Transfer Business

LOS ANGELES—Two Chinese nationals from West Covina have been charged with operating an illegal money transfer business that moved funds from China to the United States, in some cases using proceeds of romance scams to provide money to their U.S.-based customers, federal prosecutors announced Jan. 13. An updated indictment filed Wednesday charges Dianwei Wang, 31, and Zhili “Ethan” Song, 36—both of whom are fugitives—with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and witness tampering offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Wang and Song allegedly told their customers to deposit money into Chinese bank accounts they controlled or had access to with a promise that the money—minus their fee—would be deposited into accounts their customers designated in the United States, prosecutors said. Over the course of about eight months in 2017, Wang and Song transferred or attempted to transfer about $2 million from China to the United States for …

Originally appeared on The Epoch Times

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