A California man will spend the next ten years in prison after he pleaded guilty to his role in a fraud scheme to launder $46.4 million in fraudulently obtained benefits to China.
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Brian R. Cleland, 72, of Los Angeles was sentenced on Thursday following a guilty plea on November 17, 2025.
Cleland admitted that he and co-conspirators Bruce Jin, 61, and Carlos A. Grijalva, both of Los Angeles, worked with other unnamed conspirators to obtain unemployment funds and other welfare benefits through fraud.
The three men entered into agreements to make it appear that they operated legitimate businesses selling COVID masks, then laundered the fraudulently obtained welfare funds through that business.
Their businesses also fraudulently obtained covid-era Economic Impact Payments.
Other members of the conspiracy, some believed to be living in China, established thousands of bank accounts across the U.S. using the information of identity theft victims.
The accounts then applied for and received unemployment benefits. Operatives in China also generated those claims as part of the conspiracy that took money in Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, and other states.
After the accounts received the funds, the money was transferred to companies operated by the three named conspirators. They drew approximately $45 million from the identity theft victim accounts.
The majority of those funds were transferred to companies controlled by Cleland and Grijalva, including MexUS Service, Group Mex USA, CCB Group, GC Accounting, and CLECO.
They then transferred over $30 million to Jin’s companies.
Jin then transferred over $35 million total to an account associated with a Chinese company. Jin also directly transferred $2 million to the company’s CEO, who lives in China.
In addition to his 10-year prison sentence, the 72-year-old was ordered to pay $46.4 million in forfeiture.
” the 72-year-old was ordered to pay $46.4 million in forfeiture.” So the U S tax payers will be providing this thief with there hots and a cot for the next ten years. Just where might this old jail bird be expected to find the $46,400,000,00 he is supposed to pay?
… and no one noticed this….