Lead defendant and 10 others plead guilty in $65 million multinational fraud ring targeting thousands of seniors

Date: June 30, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

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 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.

Next events

Case number 25-cr-1097-TWR

• Hua Wang, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 18, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Weining Su, Change of Plea, July 2, 2026, at 10 a.m.

Case number 25-cr-1762-TWR

• Hongsen Cao, Change of Plea, July 16, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.

Case number 25-cr-1765-TWR

• Xiao Lei Xu, Sentencing Hearing, July 7, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Wen Chang Wang, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 4, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Jiawen Cai, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 18, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Zhuhan Yin, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 4, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Ziyue Zhao, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 18, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Wenzhi Chen, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 4, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Jiaxin Wang, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 11, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Yuhui Sun, Sentencing Hearing, Sept. 4, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Jiaxin Jiang, Sentencing Hearing, Aug. 7, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Bing Shen, Sentencing Hearing, July 7, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• Chongchong Li, Sentencing Hearing, July 7, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.

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, Flushing, NY
• Weining Su, aka "Ning Ma", Flushing, NY

Case number 25-cr-1762-TWR

• Hongsen Cao, aka "Shawn Cao," Los Angeles, CA

Case number 25-cr-1765-TWR

• Xiao Lei Xu, aka "Xiaolei Xu", Flushing, NY
• Wen Chang Wang, Detroit, MI
• Jiawen Cai, aka "Johnny Cai", Flushing, NY
• Xinyu Shao, Flushing, NY
• Zhuhan Yin, aka "Iron Yin", Flushing, NY
• [Redacted]
• Ziyue Zhao, aka "Chris Zhao", Flushing, NY
• Guangli Lin, Flushing, NY
• Wenzhi Chen, Austin, TX
• [Redacted]
• Jiaxin Wang, Flushing, NY
• [Redacted]
• Haotian Zhang, aka "Kevin Z", Flushing, NY
• Dudu Chen, aka "Norris Chen", In Custody
• Yuhui Sun, aka "Ian Sun", Flushing, NY
• Jiaxin Jiang, aka "YiYi", In Custody
• Dexiao Lin, aka "Prozac", Flushing, NY
• Zhiyi Zhang, aka "Cream Pablo", Los Angeles, CA
• Zhiwei Chen, Levittown, NY
• Bing Shen, Flushing, NY
• Zetian Zhang, Flushing, NY
• Huajian Chen, aka "Marco Chen", Austin, TX
• Chongchong Li, Los Angeles, CA
• Jianhao Gao, aka "Gh Ghao", Flushing, NY

Case number 25-cr-2208-TWR

Cheng Li, In Custody

Case number 25-cr-3371-TWR

Kaiwen Zhang, 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

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.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.