A billionaire Chinese national pleaded guilty Monday to a straw-donor campaign contribution scheme by which he made more than $10,000 in illegal donations to New York City and congressional candidates in the names of others.
Hui Qin, 56, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), was once listed on Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires and ran the now-defunct film and entertainment company SMI Culture based in Hong Kong.
Qin pleaded guilty Monday to charges of making political contributions in the names of others, immigration fraud and producing a false identification document.
The Chinese magnate has been incarcerated since his arrest at a Manhattan hotel on Oct. 2, 2023.
As part of his plea agreement, Qin agreed to abandon his status as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) of the U.S., and to be removed from the country.
According to court documents, between December 2021 and December 2022, Qin arranged a scheme to reimburse other individuals who made campaign contributions on his behalf.
Prosecutors stated straw donors made approximately $11,600 in contributions on Qin’s behalf to several campaign committees, causing the committees to unwittingly file false contribution reports with the Federal Election Commission in 2022.
The New York Times, quoting a person familiar with the case, reported that the Chinese national’s straw contributions went to political candidates including U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Allan Fung, a former mayor of Cranston, R.I., who ran for Congress as a Republican, and current New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat.
Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Monday that Qin engaged in a “brazen web of deception, spreading lies to federal election and immigration authorities and a state agency.”
“Ensuring election integrity and rooting out campaign contribution fraud are priorities of the Department of Justice, including my Office.” Peace said. “No one is above the law, no matter their wealth or station in society, and this Office will vigorously prosecute all criminals who lie to government agencies to further their own ends.”
Additionally, Qin admitted Monday to filing a false application for LPR status with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
According to federal prosecutors, Qin falsely swore in his April 2019 LPR application that he had never used another name.
However, according to court records, a PRC government official provided Qin with the alias “Muk Lam Li” in 2008, and between 2008 and his 2019 LPR application used the alias to obtain a Hong Kong identification card, a PRC identification card, and a Hong Kong passport in the name of the “Li” alias.
Qin used the name “Muk Lam Li” in September 2017 to transfer more than $5 million from the PRC to a U.S. bank account, a portion of which was used to purchase a luxury Manhattan apartment where he resided, prosecutors said.
Qin also pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining a Florida driver’s license in December 2020.
Federal prosecutors said Monday that Qin travelled from New York to Florida and applied for a driver’s license by falsely stating on his application that is was “true and correct” that he resided at an address in Miami, where he had in fact never lived, and backed up his false assertion with fake bank and credit card statements under the name of another alias.
“Qin is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, but made straw donations to major political campaigns, hiding the true source of the political contribution from the public,” said Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas Fattorusso.
“Not only is this unethical, it’s illegal. Qin travelled to the United States, obtained a false visa, willfully violated our laws, then sought to conceal his behavior,” Fattorusso said. “IRS Criminal Investigation remains committed to using our expertise, working alongside our law enforcement partners, to detect and hold those accountable who believe rules of law simply do not apply to them.”
Qin faces up to 27 years imprisonment for the charges of making straw political contributions, immigration fraud and producing a false identification document.
