Asian National Sentenced to 10 Years in U.S. Prison for Money Laundering

An Asian national who had acquired Belizean nationality during the period 2011 to 2013 has been sentenced to ten years in a US prison.  42-year-old, Jianxing Chen, pleaded guilty on May 23 for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Chen resided in Placencia for a while, and was the leader of a controlled network that laundered drug proceeds generated in the United States, and channeled to various drug trafficking organization in Latin America including Mexico.  According to the US Department of Justice, “Chen coordinated the laundering of multimillion dollar quantities of drug proceeds from Latin American drug trafficking organizations, including organizations based in Mexico, into the hands of Chinese nationals, who subsequently engaged in a sophisticated scheme to covertly launder the drug money into mainland China, largely circumventing the U.S. financial system.”  Chen was wanted by the US authorities, and was picked up in Peru in June 2021 where he spent 32 months before being extradited to the United States in February this year.  Love News understands that five other Asian nationals have been sentenced for participation in Chen’s network.  In addition to ten years in prison, Chen has also been ordered to forfeit six million US dollars.