A Chinese national has been sentenced to 28 months in federal prison for laundering approximately $3.5 million obtained from victims of investment scams known as “pig butchering” schemes. Li Liu, 27, also known as “Qiunan Li” and “Xiaoying Zhao,” resided in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. United States District Judge Fernando M. Olguin handed down the sentence.
Liu pleaded guilty on June 4 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to authorities, pig butchering fraud schemes involve scammers contacting victims through dating services, social media, or unsolicited messages and calls—sometimes pretending to have dialed a wrong number. The scammers build relationships with their targets and eventually propose business investments. Victims are then directed to fraudulent investment platforms where they are persuaded to transfer funds for supposed financial opportunities. These platforms often display fake gains on investments, leading victims to send more money before ultimately losing access to their funds.
In September 2024, using a fake passport under the alias “Xia Ran,” Liu opened a bank account for a sham company named Ocean X Trading Ltd Inc., maintaining access until April 2025. Multiple scam victims wired money into this account. In October 2024 alone, Liu transferred $83,461 from this account to Alamo Tech Ltd., a company based in Hong Kong.
Liu and her co-conspirators used forged identification documents—including passports and California driver’s licenses—to open accounts at mail receiving facilities and collect packages containing bulk cash sent by wire fraud victims.
For instance, in March 2025, Liu used another fake passport under the name “Qiunan Li” along with other documents for Sunny South Trading Inc., opening an account at a shipping company in Koreatown. During two days in April 2025, six packages containing bulk cash were received there; Liu collected and photographed the contents before consolidating the money and sending it to co-defendant Shaui Lyu and others.
Authorities found that Lyu possessed about 46 images of bulk currency on his cellphone—many sent by Liu—with law enforcement estimating these images represented around $3.5 million laundered through these operations.
The scheme also involved couriers transporting large amounts of cash between cities; for example, in March 2025 someone transported over $200,000 from Dallas to Los Angeles as part of the operation. Couriers used photos of serialized U.S. dollar bills shared between themselves and victims as confirmation during pickups—a method evidenced by more than 100 such images found on Lyu’s phone.
Liu admitted receiving payment for her role in laundering proceeds from fraud victims’ losses. Law enforcement recovered $104,000 in cash at her residence that had not yet been distributed further among conspirators. They also found 27 unopened packages at mail receiving facilities containing about $285,000 in cash and $87,000 worth of gold bars.
Co-defendant Shaui Lyu—an illegal alien from China—also pleaded guilty on June 4 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering; he faces up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced on September 4.
Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation into this case.
“Pig butchering” frauds have become increasingly common worldwide due to their reliance on online relationship-building tactics followed by elaborate financial deception schemes.
Assistant United States Attorney Erik M. Silber prosecuted the case as Chief of the Post-Conviction and Special Litigation Section.
