Ruhuan Zhen, Money Laundering, Virginia 2025

Ruhuan Zhen and Hongce Wu, two Chinese nationals, have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with transnational criminal organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación.

According to court documents, beginning in at least November 2016 and continuing to April 2025, Zhen, Wu, and their co-conspirators are alleged to have used a variety of secretive and clandestine methods, including mirror transfers, foreign bank accounts, encrypted communications applications, a serial-number verification system, and trade-based money laundering, to launder substantial volumes of narcotics proceeds and funds represented to be narcotics proceeds on behalf of transnational criminal organizations.

The conspiracy is alleged to span the course of years with co-conspirators operating across the United States, Mexico, Latin America, China, and elsewhere, and involve drug proceeds stemming from the importation and sale of illicit narcotics, including cocaine and fentanyl.

Zhen and Wu were indicted on April 24, 2025, by a federal grand jury empaneled in Alexandria, Virginia, and remain at large.

If convicted of the offense, Zhen and Wu each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edgardo J. Rodriguez for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Chelsea R. Rooney of the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF) are prosecuting the case. MNF Trial Attorney Caylee E. Campbell provided substantial assistance throughout the investigation.

MNF's mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Mandatory Facts: Defendant Name: Ruhuan Zhen and Hongce Wu, Crime: Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, City and State: Alexandria, Virginia, Exact Date: April 24, 2025, Sentence or Outcome: 20 years in prison if convicted.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/members-transnational-money-laundering-organization-charged-laundering-cartel-funds