A woman from Queens has been sentenced after being found guilty of laundering over $20 million connected to drug trafficking through her job as an accountant at an airline ticketing company.
Louis Fan Yu, 40, received a two-year prison sentence on Monday for her participation in a Chinese money-laundering operation that ran from 2016 to 2020, as documented in court records.
According to prosecutors, Yu received substantial amounts of cash from associates involved in laundering money from drug sales, including heroin and cocaine, linked to Mexican cartels operating in the U.S.
Officials noted that she exploited her accountant role at a ticket clearing company in Flushing to channel illegal cash through her employer’s bank account, although the company’s name hasn’t been disclosed.
Yu’s scheme involved transaction-based money laundering, obscuring the drug profits through falsified business dealings meant to pay for airline tickets.
Prosecutors highlighted that Yu and her co-conspirators funneled the laundered money into accounts held by other accomplices both in the U.S. and in China.
In August, she admitted guilt to one charge related to money laundering conspiracies, according to federal authorities.
Her attorney, King L. Wu, expressed in a memo that Yu, a first-time offender from Taishan, China, and a legal permanent resident in the U.S., deserved either probation or a shorter prison sentence.
Yu, a mother with two kids and a caregiver for her aging parents, reportedly expressed deep remorse throughout the legal proceedings. Her attorney claimed that financial struggles drove her to participate in the money laundering operation.
“Following the birth of her second child, her financial situation worsened, leading to increased costs and reduced work hours. She felt overwhelmed,” the memo explained.
“In that vulnerable state, she made, perhaps, the poorest choice of her life, thinking she was merely helping with a business-related favor.”
Wu continued, “She didn’t control the money, nor did she lead anyone. She received very little in return for her efforts and now realizes how incorrect that was and accepts her part in it.”
Yu might also face the revocation of her green card and possible deportation back to China, as noted in the memo.
Wu did not respond to requests for comments regarding the case.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI were involved in the investigations related to this case.
