An Oyster Bay resident, Sherry Xue Li, has recently entered a guilty plea for leading a deceptive investment fraud scheme that robbed investors of over $30 million and facilitated the illegal sale of access to influential U.S. politicians to foreign nationals. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, Li's actions included money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct the administration of campaign finance laws by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Li's admission pulls back the curtain on a nearly decade-long operation, revealing the depths of her fraudulent activities. Through a fictitious development project named the Thompson Education Center (TEC), Li, alongside her co-defendant Lianbo Wang, extracted millions from investors, luring them with the false promise of U.S. residency through the EB-5 visa program. Part of her plea agreement has Li slated to forfeit a hefty sum of $31.5 million and various properties. Wang, who pleaded guilty to related charges in 2024, is already serving out a 60-month sentence.
In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office, United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr. commented, “Li defrauded more than 150 victims in the United States and abroad through years of lies and deception and sought to profit by selling access to the democratic process.” Special agents from the FBI, HSI, and IRS-CI also issued strong condemnations of Li's conduct, underscoring the seriousness of her offenses against the political and immigration systems of the country.
The prosecution details that Li and Wang's nefarious activities went beyond the misrepresentation of the TEC project. They acted as proxies, or "straw donors," funneling foreign funds into U.S. campaign coffers, a clear violation of federal election. Among their most brazen acts, Li and Wang charged foreign nationals $93,000 each for admission to a political fundraiser, only to contribute this money in their own names—a move that led them to be top contributors at an event for then-President of the United States, as per the information from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Li's sentencing remains pending, where she faces up to 20 years in prison for her crimes.
The prosecution and forfeiture activities, handled by the Office’s National Security and Cybercrime and Public Integrity Sections, along with the Office's Asset Recovery Section, aim to rectify the financial damages wrought by Li's fraudulent actions and protect the integrity of the United States' crucial systems.
