Weymouth Man Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Money Laundering

BOSTON - A Weymouth man was sentenced yesterday in connection with an elaborate money laundering conspiracy.

Chengzou Liu, 38 was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to two years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In December 2023, Liu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering as well as possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

In July 2022, Liu was charged along with seven others in connection with elaborate money laundering and money transmitting conspiracies allegedly led by two of Liu's co-conspirators Qiu Mei Zeng and Shi Rong Zhang.

According to the charging documents, Zeng and Zhang co-owned China Gourmet, a restaurant in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood. Zhang was also a registered owner of Wonderful Electronics, an electronics and restaurant supply business based in Hanover. 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.

Liu was a large-scale marijuana trafficker who laundered his drug proceeds allegedly through China Gourmet. On at least three occasions, Liu was observed delivering bags of cash that contained tens of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds to the restaurant, which was then allegedly wired to accounts in the U.S. and China. It is alleged that in a span of just three weeks in October 2021, Liu delivered about $170,000 in drug proceeds to his conspirators to launder to his bank accounts in China.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Stephen Belleau, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation in Boston; John E. Mawn, Jr., Interim Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police; Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox; Braintree Police Chief Timothy Cohoon; and Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy made the announcement today. Valuable assistance in the investigation was provided by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren A. Graber and Charles Dell'Anno of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

This investigation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.