Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - Entering a guilty plea in federal court Wednesday, Sherry Xue Li of Oyster Bay, Long Island, admitted she duped 150 investors out of $30 million with a fictitious real estate project, falsely assuring them she had substantial political ties in the U.S. and could secure green card access.
For
more than a decade Li and her co-defendant Lianbo Wang, who previously pleaded
guilty, claimed to be building a private educational institution in Sullivan
County, New York, called the “Thompson Education Center.”
Prosecutors
say Li and Wang, both naturalized U.S. citizens, illegally contributed investors’ funds to U.S. political
campaigns and committees, and to attend fundraisers where Li, the institution’s
purported president, would pose for photos with prominent U.S. politicians,
including President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
Then,
the pair sent investors and prospective investors promotional material that
featured those images to lend legitimacy to the scam.
They
convinced investors, many of whom were foreign nationals in China, that by
handing over $500,000, they’d be guaranteed lawful permanent U.S. residence
through the government’s EB-5 investment visa program.
In
all, more than 150 investors put at least $31.5 million into the project.
Approximately $16.5 million of that was from investors promised green cards,
and the other $15 million came from stock investors who were promised the
company would IPO.
It
did not, and none of the investors received a temporary or permanent green
card.
“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,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr.
said in a statement. “In doing so, she attempted to corrupt a fundamental
institution in this country — fair and transparent elections free from unlawful
foreign influence.”
Li,
53, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the
United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration
of campaign finance laws. She faces up to 20 years in prison and will forfeit
$31.5 million, as well as property at three locations.
Wang,
48, pleaded guilty in 2024 to unlawful monetary transactions and conspiracy to
defraud the United States. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Li
and Wang used the stolen funds for personal expenses like clothing, jewelry,
housing, vacations and fine dining, in addition to the political contributions,
the government says, dubbing the defendants straw donors.
In
one instance described in the criminal complaint, 12 investors paid Li and Wang
$93,000 each for admission to a June 28, 2017, fundraiser with Trump. The
defendants then donated $600,000 of that money to the joint fundraising
committee hosting the event, where they took photographs with the president to
solicit further investments.
The
pair hired contractors and engineers to draw up plans and do minor work on the
development site to make investors believe they had a real chance of delivering
promised returns.
An
attorney for Li did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
0 Comments