Ken Zhiyi Liang, Witness Tampering, California 2024

SANTA ANA, California – In a shocking turn of events, Ken Zhiyi Liang, a 38-year-old immigration attorney from Irvine, has been arrested and charged with attempted witness tampering in connection with a federal investigation into ‘birthing houses’ operating in Southern California.

Liang, who was arrested Friday afternoon, allegedly accepted $6,000 from a Chinese national to smuggle her out of the United States. The woman had been designated as a material witness in the investigation and was subject to a court order preventing her from leaving the country without authorization.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Liang had represented the witness in the matter until he was removed as attorney of record by the court on April 17. However, Liang continued to communicate with the witness and outlined a plan to help her escape to China undetected by federal authorities.

The investigation into the birthing houses, which ‘provided services to Chinese nationals, who travelled into the United States from China, for the purpose of giving birth to children so that the children could obtain United States citizenship,’ is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and IRS – Criminal Investigation.

Liang’s arrest came after federal agents monitored several video- and audio-recorded calls and meetings between Liang and the witness. During these conversations, Liang outlined a plan in which he would assist the witness by having her board a commercial airliner in the United States without travel documentation, so she could escape to China undetected.

According to the affidavit, Liang refused to provide a written contract to the witness and requested that she pay him in cash, delete text messages and call logs, and begin using a prepaid cellular phone for all future communications. Liang was arrested as he was walking with the witness towards his car, supposedly to begin a trip to a coffee shop in Corona, where he was going to introduce the witness to the co-conspirators.

Liang led agents back to his office, where he returned the $6,000 he had accepted from the witness. The attorney provided assistance to two other material witnesses – LongJing Yi, and her husband, Jun Xiao – who fled to the U.S. on April 4 and were subsequently charged in relation to their flight from the U.S.

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