Reported by Kyle Lawson

(Excerpt featured below. To read full report, go to: https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2025/07/staten-island-woman-admits-role-in-prolific-chinese-money-laundering-scheme.html?outputType=amp)

 Two Chinese nationals and a Staten Island woman pleaded guilty to mark the end of a “prolific” money-laundering cell, according to federal law enforcement officials. 

The defendants, officials said, were washing proceeds for narcotics trafficked into the U.S. from Mexico. 

Enhua Fang, 38, and Jianfei Lu, 30, of China; and Shu Jun Zhen, 36, of Staten Island, pleaded guilty Thursday in Brooklyn federal court to charges of money laundering involving drug trafficking proceeds.

Authorities did not provide a home community for Zhen.

They are the last of six defendants who have pleaded guilty in the case, according to a press release issued last week by the U.S. Department of Justice. The previous convictions included defendants from China and Baldwin Park, California.

The group laundered more than $92 million in illicit funds, including proceeds from the importation and distribution of illegal drugs, officials said. 

Fang was an organizer who oversaw couriers in the U.S., prosecutors said. The couriers allegedly picked up bulk cash proceeds from unlawful activities, including narcotics trafficking.