Braintree man pleads guilty to charges in massive money laundering scam

A Braintree man pleaded guilty this week to charges related to an elaborate money laundering operation, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Chengzou Liu, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit money laundering and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, a release noted.

Liu and seven others first faced charges in July 2022 in connection to the scam, which was allegedly led by two of Liu’s co-conspirators, Qiu Mei Zeng and Shi Rong Zhang.

Charging documents allege that Liu was a large-scale marijuana trafficker who laundered his money through China Gourmet, a Chinatown restaurant co-owned by Zeng and Zhang.

“Zhang was also a registered owner of Wonderful Electronics, an electronics and restaurant supply business based in Hanover,” the U.S. Attorney’s office noted. “It is alleged that the defendants used these businesses to run a large-scale money laundering and money transmitting operation that involved the laundering of drug proceeds and proceeds from stolen and/or fraudulent gift cards.”

Authorities allegedly saw Liu delivering bags of cash containing tens of thousands of dollars to the restaurant on at least three occasions, and that money was later wired to accounts in the U.S. and China. Prosecutors say that Liu delivered this money to Zeng, who sent the electric transfers to accounts in China provided by Liu.

Liu faces sentencing on April 24. For the money laundering conspiracy charge, he could face up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved, whichever is greater, prosecutors noted. For the intent to distribute charge, Liu could face up to 20 years in prison, at least three years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $1 million.

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