Chinese National Sentenced To 17 Months For Money Laundering

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Wendy Berger has sentenced Cunwen Zhu (45, China) to 17 months in federal prison for money laundering. Zhu entered a guilty plea on April 8, 2024.

According to court documents, Zhu received a $470,000 wire transfer which came from a victim of a financial investment scam. The victim was one of many that believed that their money was funding an online brokerage account, when in reality the funds were going to bad actors that were using it for their personal gain. Zhu took the money, converted it to cryptocurrency, and sent it to his associate in China. Zhu was paid a percentage of the money that he transferred to the Chinese national. As part of Zhu’s sentence, he was ordered to pay $470,000 to the victim.

The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service North Florida Cyber Fraud Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Cannizzaro.