Two people are suspected of laundering over $43 million in “pig-butchering” scam proceeds and have been indicted

Odaily Planet Daily reports that, according to a notice from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York of the U.S. Department of Justice, Chen Zhuoying and Zhang Haojie were formally indicted on July 16 at the federal court in Brooklyn on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Prosecutors allege that between 2020 and 2022, the two operated a money-laundering network of more than 10 people in Queens and Brooklyn, New York, using about 45 shell companies and 140 business bank accounts to transfer at least $43 million in proceeds from “pig butchering” investment fraud.

The case is jointly investigated by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. If convicted, each of the two defendants faces up to 20 years in prison.