New York businesswoman sentenced to nine years for $30m political finance scheme

"She peddled false promises and outright lies to her many investors and stuffed her pockets while they suffered devastating losses. Prosecutors say Li and Wang for years convinced investors, many of them from China, into contributing $500,000 each to a fictitious development project, with a false promise that it would guarantee them lawful permanent resident status in the US."

"Instead, the two, who are naturalized US citizens, used millions of dollars from those investments for personal expenses, including clothing, jewellry, housing, vacation travel and upscale dining. They said Li and Wang also sold investors access to US politicians and used the proceeds to make illegal contributions to US political campaigns and committees."

"In one instance, the two charged investors $93,000 each for admission to a 2017 Trump fundraiser then used the money to make illegal donations totalling $600,000 to the committee hosting the event."

Sherry Xue Li, a 54-year-old from Oyster Bay, received a nine-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating a financial scheme that defrauded foreign investors, primarily from China, of more than $30 million. Li and her co-defendant Lianbo Wang convinced investors to contribute $500,000 each to a fictitious development project, falsely promising lawful permanent resident status in the US. Instead, they misappropriated funds for personal expenses and illegally funneled money into US political campaigns. Notably, they charged investors $93,000 each for access to a 2017 Trump fundraiser, using the proceeds to make $600,000 in illegal campaign contributions. Li pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the US by obstructing campaign finance laws. She was ordered to forfeit $31.5 million and make restitution to victims.

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