A New York man was handed a prison sentence exceeding two years for his participation in a money laundering scheme that involved stolen federal funds, including Social Security retirement benefits and COVID-19 relief funds. The details of the case, out of Queens, were made public following an announcement by United States Attorney David Metcalf detailing the outcome of the sentencing held before District Court Judge Timothy J. Savage. The man, Xing Zheng, aged 35, will face 28 months of incarceration followed by three years of supervised release, according to a release published by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Zheng's crimes were connected to a broader conspiracy, in which he, along with another unidentified individual known by the names "Christian Dasilva" and "Christian Hernandez," managed to funnel nearly $3 million of illicit gains from various sources. Zheng’s activities concentrated squarely on laundering, taking fraudulent financial flows, and converting them into cryptocurrency, a service for which he retained a hefty 25% commission. In addition to the prison term, Zheng was ordered to pay restitution of over $426,000 and a forfeiture judgment valued at $745,000, as reported by the announcement above. Zheng pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering last December.
Integral to their operation was Myrna Ortiz, a 46-year-old from Philadelphia, who encountered "Christian" through an online dating platform. The digital romance swiftly pivoted to complicity in crime, with Ortiz opening bank accounts and filing for fraudulent claims, all at the behest of her online partner. The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that the conspiracy aimed at high earners above 62 who hadn’t filed for retirement benefits, affecting at least 23 individuals. Ortiz faced her reckoning in January, receiving a sentence of one day in prison, two years of supervised release, and an order to pay restitution totaling nearly $688,049.
The joint efforts of the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General were instrumental in halting the schemes and holding the perpetrators accountable.
The severity of Zheng's actions is underscored by the original intent of the misappropriated funds—they were destined to support Americans grappling with the socioeconomic fallout of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Colleen Lawlor, Special Agent in Charge from the SSA Office of the Inspector General, and Syreeta Scott, Special Agent in Charge of the Mid-Atlantic Region for the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, both underscored the gravity of the crimes and their respective offices’ commitment to justice in their statements obtained via the same press release.
