CHICAGO (WGN) — A federal judge in Chicago has sentenced a Chinese national to a decade in prison after he was found guilty of laundering tens of millions of dollars in illegal drug proceedings for Mexican drug cartels.
According to a press release from the US Department of Justice, Haiping Pan schemed with others to launder up to $3 million per month in drug proceeds from 2016-18 using secretive money pickups in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and other cities around the United States, followed by currency swaps between the United States and China, and then China and Mexico.
Federal authorities said Pan played a significant role in the money laundering process where he used his international financial expertise and relationships with Mexican drug cartels to facilitate a stealthy flow of drug money through businesses and banks around the world, with the proceeds ultimately ending up in the hands of drug traffickers in Mexico.
During the conspiracy, Pan and his co-conspirators completed an average of one to two pickups per week, ranging from $150,000 to $1 million per pickup. In total, Pan knowingly participated in the laundering and attempted laundering of approximately $62 million in drug proceeds.