4 Chinese nationals sentenced for roles in complex fraud scheme, following multiagency investigation

LOS ANGELES — Four Chinese nationals were sentenced to federal prison March 17 for participating in a complex identity theft scheme that sought to defraud multiple domestic retailers out of at least $1.2 million.

As part of the scheme, the defendants stole the personally identifiable information of hundreds of victims — including Social Security numbers, dates of birth and home addresses — and used that information to make fake driver’s licenses to access credit in the victims’ names at large national retailers, including Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Williams-Sonoma, Dillard’s and Saks Fifth Avenue.

The defendants, all Chinese nationals, entered the United States under false pretenses.

• Kar Kee “Steven” Cheung, 36, of Chino Hills, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of visa fraud, one count of possession of equipment used to manufacture false identification documents, and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
• Qian Guo, 37, of Chino Hills, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for one count of possession of equipment used to manufacture false identification documents and one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
• Chongming “Ming” Wang, 28, of Temple City, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of aiding and abetting access device fraud in excess of $1,000.
• Jiaozhu “Yanny” Yan, 30, of Alhambra, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison for one count of visa fraud.

All four pleaded guilty on Jan. 6.

The fifth defendant in this case, Sizhen “Rachel” Liu, 35, also of Chino Hills, was previously sentenced Jan. 6 to 50 months in federal prison for one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of access device fraud in excess of $1,000.

The sixth and final defendant, Hyun Woo “Scott” Jung, 30, of Ontario, pleaded guilty Feb. 10 to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud and one count of possession with intent to use unlawfully five or more false identification documents. Jung is scheduled to be sentenced on May 5.

The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service is conducting the ongoing investigation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI provided substantial assistance, in addition to support from the Alhambra Police Department, the Arcadia Police Department and the Bel Air, Maryland Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Kim Meyer of the Violent and Organized Crime Section handled the prosecution.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)