A San Gabriel Valley woman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering on Tuesday for her involvement in a scheme that garnered more than $11 million from as many as 180 victims across the United States.
Cynthia Song, 43, from Arcadia was arrested in October 2024 by federal authorities and has been in federal custody since, according to a release by the U.S. Department of Justice.
For a little under two years, Song worked with a network of co-conspirators to target mainly elderly victims and scam them into sending money to multiple bank accounts in the Los Angeles area, according to authorities.
The co-conspirators who contacted the victims worked overseas, impersonating government officials, law enforcement and customer support services. The posers tricked victims with fake threats, like demanding payments to avoid legal consequences and potential computer issues, according to the Department of Justice.
The money was sent to bank accounts in the Los Angeles area, controlled by Song and other conspirators she had recruited. It was then immediately sent overseas — mainly to China, the release said.
More than 180 victims sent funds to these bank accounts. The payments demanded from victims ranged from $1,000 to $400,000. Once the money was sent overseas, it could not be recovered even after the victim reported the fraud to authorities, according to prosecutors.
To take part in the money laundering ring, the release said that Song recruited around 15 people living in the Los Angeles area, mostly of Chinese descent and some who were in the country unlawfully. The recruits were tasked with creating business entities and opening bank accounts, as well as transferring victim payments.
Song also trained the recruits to deceive banks from uncovering the fraudulent accounts, according to the release. Documentation from the victims taken by the scammers was used to provide faulty verification for the “large and suspicious wire transfers from victims,” the release said.
Song and others participating in the scheme took around 5% to 10% of the payments received, before the money was sent overseas, according to prosecutors.
Song’s next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16, when she faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years and must pay restitution to her victims, according to the release.
Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigations were investigating the case, the release said.
