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A New York businesswoman was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that swindled more than $30 million from foreign investors and illegally funneled some of the stolen money into U.S. political campaigns, including a fundraiser for President Donald Trump, prosecutors said.
Sherry Xue Li, 54, of Oyster Bay, was also ordered to forfeit $31.5 million, surrender properties at three locations, and pay restitution to victims. Li has been detained since her arrest in 2022 and pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s enforcement of campaign finance laws.
Her co-defendant, Lianbo Wang, pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Fake investment, real losses
Federal prosecutors said Li and Wang spent years convincing investors — many of them from China — to contribute $500,000 each to a fictitious development project that falsely promised to secure lawful permanent resident status in the United States.
Instead, prosecutors said, the two naturalized U.S. citizens diverted millions of dollars for personal use, including luxury clothing, jewelry, housing, vacations and high-end dining.
“They peddled false promises and outright lies to their investors and stuffed their pockets while victims suffered devastating losses,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said in a statement.
Li’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Illegal political donations
According to court filings, Li and Wang also sold investors access to U.S. politicians, using proceeds from the fraud to make illegal political donations in violation of federal campaign finance laws.
In one instance, prosecutors said the pair charged investors $93,000 each for admission to a 2017 Trump fundraiser, then used that money to make unlawful donations totaling $600,000 to the committee hosting the event.
Li posed for a photograph with Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the fundraiser and later used the image to solicit additional investments for the fraudulent project, prosecutors said.
Authorities emphasized that the campaigns and political committees that received the donations were unaware of the scheme and are not accused of any criminal wrongdoing.
Broader enforcement message
The case highlights federal efforts to crack down on financial crimes that intersect with U.S. elections, particularly schemes that exploit foreign money and manipulate campaign finance systems.
Li’s sentence brings to a close one of the more high-profile prosecutions involving investor fraud and illegal political contributions tied to access-seeking schemes, prosecutors said.
