A New York businesswoman was sentenced Saturday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than US$30 million (NZ$50 million) from foreign investors and funnelled some of the stolen money into US political campaigns, including a fundraiser for US President Donald Trump.
Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit US$31.5 million (NZ$52.5 million), as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims.
The 54-year-old Oyster Bay resident, who has been detained since her arrest in 2022, pleaded guilty last year to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the US by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration of campaign finance laws.
Her co-defendant, Lianbo Wang, also pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Li’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday, but US Attorney Joseph Nocella said she "faces justice for her cynical schemes".
"She peddled false promises and outright lies to her many investors and stuffed her pockets while they suffered devastating losses," he said in a statement.
Prosecutors say Li and Wang for years convinced investors, many of them from China, into contributing US$500,000 (NZ$833,772) each to a fictitious development project, with a false promise that it would guarantee them lawful permanent resident status in the US.
Instead, the two, who are naturalised US citizens, used millions of dollars from those investments for personal expenses, including clothing, jewellery, housing, vacation travel and upscale dining, according to prosecutors.
They say Li and Wang also sold investors access to US politicians and used the proceeds to make illegal contributions to US political campaigns and committees.
In one instance, the two charged investors US$93,000 (NZ$155,047) each for admission to a 2017 Trump fundraiser, then used the money to make illegal donations totalling US$600,000 (NZ$1.7 million) to the committee hosting the event.
Li even took a photograph with Trump and his wife, Melania, at the event, and used the image to solicit donations to the fake development project, prosecutors said.
The campaigns and committees were unaware of the scheme, and no allegations of criminal wrongdoing were lodged against them, prosecutors said.
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