Gold Wings (HK) Limited (“Gold Wings"), a Hong Kong company, and its CEO, Min Zheng, have agreed to enter a consent decree to resolve allegations made by the United States that they participated in and furthered a fraud scheme against an Iowa company. In the consent decree, United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand prohibited Gold Wings and Zheng from continued fraudulent activity, exercising control over fraudulently obtained funds, and contesting ownership over certain fraud proceeds.
The United States alleged in a court filing that Gold Wings and Zheng participated in a scheme that defrauded an Iowa company of over $8 million by knowingly receiving and laundering $2.3 million sent to them for purposes of purchasing a chemical used to manufacture fertilizer. The United States alleged the victim company never received the promised chemicals, yet Gold Wings and Zheng almost immediately dissipated the victim’s funds, leaving only slightly more than $575,000 in the recipient bank account.
Under the parties’ consent decree, Gold Wings and Zheng disclaimed all property interests in the $2.3 million received from the victim company and agreed not to contest ownership of those funds in any future proceeding, which will allow for the return of fraudulently obtained funds to victims. They further are permanently enjoined from engaging in certain related financial transactions and engaging in future fraudulent or unlawful activity.
“Every day, individuals and entities around the country fall victim to bad actors committing scams both at home and abroad," said United States Attorney Timothy T. Duax. “We take these schemes seriously and will use all tools at our disposal to prevent and remedy the damages stemming from such fraudulent schemes. In this case, we are pleased fraud victims will have the opportunity to recoup their funds."
The case was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew Gillespie and Ron Timmons and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 22-CV-3015-LTS-KEM.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys