Chinese national Jianfei Lu sentenced to 15 years in US$92m drug money scheme

The 31-year-old previously pleaded guilty to role in laundering illicit funds for outfit with ties to Mexican cartels

A Chinese national, described by the US Justice Department as a “prolific” money launderer, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday and ordered to pay US$25 million for his role in a Chinese money laundering outfit with ties to Mexican drug gangs.

The agency said Jianfei Lu, aged 31, was involved in laundering more than US$92 million in illicit funds in a two-year period, collecting the money from US-based drug traffickers and depositing it into shell company bank accounts using both real and fake identities.

“Chinese money laundering networks have become a key enabler to the Mexican cartels,” said assistant attorney general Tysen Duva with the department’s criminal division. “This emerging and enormous threat to the United States has only become more complex.”

Lu, one of six in the original indictment to plead guilty, was sentenced in the Western District of North Carolina by US District Judge Susan Rodriguez.

“Today’s sentence reinforces an important principle, criminal organisations cannot operate without access to their profits,” said special agent Jae Chung with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta Field Division.

“Those who knowingly assist in concealing and legitimising drug trafficking proceeds become an integral part of the criminal enterprise.”