Federal authorities were busy Thursday, arresting three alleged birth tourism operators who catered to Chinese people and unsealing indictments that link 19 people to schemes in Irvine, Los Angeles County and Rancho Cucamonga in San Bernardino County that made millions of dollars by helping clients give birth in the United States so those newborns are automatically American citizens.
The defendants allegedly were part of three “maternity” or “birthing” houses that were dismantled in March 2015 after federal agents executed 35 search warrants. Indictments unsealed Thursday “contain the first-ever federal criminal charges brought against operators and customers of birth tourism businesses,” according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles.
Alleged operators are accused of having committed widespread immigration fraud, international money laundering and fraudulent leasing of apartments and houses used in birth tourism schemes, according to the indictments that are based on investigations by HSI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Irvine Police and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s departments.
“America’s way of life is not for sale,” says Joseph Macias, special agent in charge of HSI Los Angeles, in the statement. “HSI will aggressively target those who would make a mockery of our laws and our values to benefit and enrich themselves. No one needs to be reminded about the national security and public safety implications of visa fraud and the crimes associated with it. Anyone who would exploit our nation’s generosity and our legal immigration system should be on notice: They may end up being the ones to pay a very steep price.”
Customers were coached on how to pass the U.S. Consulate interview in China by falsely stating that they were going to stay in the U.S. for only two weeks, and pregnant women were advised to wear loose clothing to conceal their pregnancies from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry, according to the indictments, which add that clients were directed to fly from China to Hawaii instead of directly to Los Angeles because it was easier to get by CBP on the Islands.
Indictments further allege that many who gave birth here skipped on payments to hospitals and other medical facilities, which wound up referring those debts to collectors.
“These cases allege a wide array of criminal schemes that sought to defeat our immigration laws–laws that welcome foreign visitors so long as they are truthful about their intentions when entering the country,” says Nick Hanna, U.S. Attorney for the Central District California, in the HSI release. “Statements by the operators of these birthing houses show contempt for the United States, while they were luring clients with the power and prestige of U.S. citizenship for their children. Some of the wealthy clients of these businesses also showed blatant contempt for the U.S. by ignoring court orders directing them to stay in the country to assist with the investigation and by skipping out on their unpaid hospital bills.”
Dongyuan Li, 41, of Irvine; Michael Wei Yueh Liu, 53, of Rancho Cucamonga; and Jing Dong, 42, of Fontana, were arrested Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit immigration fraud, international money laundering and identity theft. Liu is also accused of filing three false tax returns.
The trio is alleged in the indictments with running operations that advertised the benefits of giving birth in the U.S. as opposed to China with claims of the States having “the most attractive nationality;” “better air” and less pollution; “priority for jobs in U.S. government;” superior educational resources, including “free education from junior high school to public high school;” a more stable political situation; and the potential to “receive your senior supplement benefits when you are living overseas.”
Li allegedly used 20 apartments in Irvine for her You Win USA business that advertised of having a “100-person team” in China and the U.S. that had served more than 500 Chinese birth tourism customers. The indictment claims You Win USA charged each customer $40,000 to $80,000 and received $3 million in international wire transfers from China in just two years.
The indictment details communications in which Li allegedly referred to U.S. immigration authorities as “the foreigners” and also discussed whether to refund a down payment because, once a customer found out “the baby is a girl, her husband arranged [an] abortion for her.”
Among 16 fugitive defendants named in the unsealed indictments is Li’s 42-year-old husband, Qiang Yan, who was indicted in December on three counts of visa fraud for filing an application for an “O” visa premised upon being an “alien of extraordinary ability.” He’d done so, the feds claim, by falsely stating that he had co-authored two books–completed with fake copies attached.
The Li indictment alleges that when Yan was interviewed during a search of her $2.1 million residence in Irvine, he told federal agents that his birth tourism business investment was “chump change” because he had more than $10 million in his bank accounts in China.
The You Win USA investigation resulted in the seizure and/or forfeiture of three properties with millions of dollars in equity, including Li’s Irvine residence, as well as six vehicles, including four Mercedes Benzes, more than $1 million from bank accounts and many gold bars and coins, according to HSI. The probe also led to criminal charges against attorney Ken Zhuyin Liang, who was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for helping material witnesses flee to China in violation of court orders.
Among the others charged in an indictment filed this week is 65-year-old Wen Rui Deng, a former Irvine resident who is believed to now be in China. Deng is accused of having operated Star Baby Care, which was based in Los Angeles County and is believed to have been the largest birth tourism scheme in America. Star Baby Care is linked by the feds to 10 properties in Irvine, including houses, and 30 apartments in Rowland Heights.
The company served many Chinese officials–including some associated with Chinese Central Television, China Telecom, Bank of China and two local taxation bureaus–and its website boasted that Star Baby Care was founded in 1999 as the “number one designated maternity service to the pregnant mother from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan,” having “provided services to 8,000 pregnant women (4,000 from China) since we established,” alleges the indictment .
Liu and Dong are accused in the indictment of operating USA Happy Baby Inc., a San Bernardino County-based company that charged “VIP” customers as much as $100,000 and used apartments in Irvine and Rancho Cucamonga. USA Happy Baby is also alleged to have served Chinese officials associated with the likes of Henan People’s Radio Station in Zhengzhou, the Public Security Bureau in the Beijing Municipal Government, and the Harbin Medical University in Heilongjiang Province.
USA Happy Baby and Liu are further charged with filing false tax returns that failed to report more than $1.9 million received over three years. The indictment alleges that Liu and Dong used 14 different bank accounts to receive more than $3.4 million in international wire transfers from China during 2013 and 2014.
Chao Chen, a 34-year-old partner in the You Win USA scheme, was indicted in December on one count of contempt of court for fleeing the U.S. while he was pending sentencing. Chen had previously pleaded guilty to visa fraud, marriage fraud and tax fraud. His 31-year-old wife, Ji Zhu, was indicted in March 2018 on one count of marriage fraud for allegedly marrying a U.S. citizen to obtain U.S. citizenship even though she was already married to Chen.
Zhu and Chen fled to China, where they remain fugitives from justice, according to the feds. Other fugitive defendants named in the unsealed indictments alleging they fled to China in violation of federal court orders include:
- Xiao Yan Liu, 39, who was indicted in November on two counts of visa fraud and one count of lying to federal law enforcement. According to her visa application, she was the “chief physician” at the Henan Shangqiu Power Supply Company Staff Hospital.
- Jun Xiao and LongJing Yi, both 30 and subjects of a February 2018 indictment on charges of conspiracy, visa fraud, obstruction of justice and criminal contempt. They allegedly lied on their visa applications that they would be staying in the U.S. for 15 days. They are further accused of having paid only $4,600 of the $32,291 in hospital charges related to the birth of their baby, and after Xiao fled to China, he is claimed to have denigrated a federal court order requiring him to stay in the U.S. by saying in a communication, “Anyway, I’m already home. U.S. can’t do anything to me.”
- Dongjiang He, 46, and his 40-year-old wife Zhichan Yu, who were indicted in February 2018. On his visa application, He listed his occupation as “Government” and his position as “Project Manager and Secretary General” for the China Nonferrous Metals Techno Economic Research Institute, which is located in the Haidian District in Beijing. The couple is accused of visa fraud, obstruction of justice and contempt of court.
- Jia Luo, 30, who was also indicted in February 2018 and allegedly lied on her visa application and to CPB officers in Hawaii, where she was asked her if she was planning on having a baby in the United States.
- Renlong Chen, 34, and his 33-year-old wife Wei Wang, who were also indicted in February 2018 and allegedly lied on their visa applications by stating they would be visiting the U.S. for only eight days when they actually made arrangements to stay at a maternity house in Rancho Cucamonga for three months so that Wang could give birth in the United States.
- Jie He, 29, who was also indicted in February 2018 and allegedly made false statements on her visa application, including that she planned to stay in the U.S. for only 20 days when she actually entered into a contract to pay approximately $50,000 to obtain a visa and stay in the States for several months to give birth. Court documents allege that Jie He told HSI special agents that she flew into Las Vegas, rather than Los Angeles, because the Chinese maternity operator had advised her that it was easier to enter through Sin City.
- Eryun Zhang and her husband, Liang Ni, both 25, and her 50-year-old mother Ji Xu, who were also indicted in February 2018. Ni admitted that, during an interview conducted at the U.S. Consulate in China, he falsely stated that the purpose of their trip was for their honeymoon rather than the true reason, which was for Zhang to give birth in the United States, according to court documents.
The cases from this week’s indictment are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Pell of the Santa Ana Branch Office.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.
Thanks for reporting this information. Very needed.
Thank you for uncovering this issue- I live in Irvine and I see so many Asian very- pregnant ladies walking up and down Walnut Ave (often in groups)…. I was convinced there was a pregnancy ring going on, and you proved me right!
I agree! We just moved to Irvine California, from Florida we live in the Great Park area and every single evening I see that very same thing, a pack of pregnant Asian women walking the streets. I thought automatically something is NOT RIGHT with this picture! I’m glad I’m not the only one who immediately noticed this!
Follow them home. Report it.
Do you also have the addresses of the residences in Irvine? I’ve seen several new faces off and on in our Cypress Village neighborhood – pregnant Asian looking ladies walking around. So wondering if any of the houses here are part of this business.
They haven’t even put a dent in these maternity scams in Irvine. I know of at least 3 properties in the Irvine Woodbury community that are operating today. They bring them
In Van loads and have clipboards when they drop them off. They check them in like a hotel. There is one Townhouse that is the “kitchen house” they cook there and deliver food to many of these houses/townhouses and condos in Woodbury, Cypress Village, and Portola Springs. You see them walking in groups of 5-10 women in Woodbury every day. No men always just women.
Call the FEDS !!!! Please. We have to report these things. Follow them home when you see the groups. Take pictures. Its our duty.
great reportage!
Thanks a lot!
They allege? It’s fact. Why areest only them? What about the thousands that stroll across our South border daily?
They need to raid The Village apartment in Irvine. There are apartments with 5-6 pregnanant women at a time living in them run by one older lady. Irvine company allows it to happen as long as occupancy is up. Had to move out of that dump
And after they raid The Village apartments, they need to come straight to the Great Park Neighborhood and raid that next!
US government has to strip of the US citizen status for those children born in this fraud scheme. Also, Arrest these culprits and put in life in prison.
Our 14th amendment needs to be updated. Instead of providing citizenship to the person who has born in this US soil, Provide the citizenship to the person who has born to the citizenship parents. This will eliminate all these problems.
yea…its about time we get these low life lying criminal agents of the communist country, China, out of our country…..i live in Irvine and there is a birthing house on my street but Irvine police said there is nothing they can do….i think they are over-staying their questionable visa…….get’em they hell out!
This is the most detailed article on this topic. Big difference between True journalists like yourself and click-bait websites. Thank you.
This has been happening in my neighborhood for years. Small groups of pregnant Chinese women with their minders walking around. They arrange special shopping trips and other outings around the state. I can only say, keep up the good investigative work—there are many, many more outfits abusing the system and damaging nice family neighborhoods.
For a long time I have observed groups of pregnant Chinese women at Costco in Irvine and Tustin. My visiting nephew on a stop visit from China to Irvine said: “there are more Chinese people here than in China….” ???
I complained to the Irvine Company and the manager of The Village Apts at the Spectrum where I lived about this obvious criminal activity. The manager told me that it was legitimate for the Chinese birthing business to exist and that I should write my congressman if I didn’t like it. The Village Apts were full of this operation as us residents witnessed the vans of pregnant women coming and going, food run in carts marked for several apt numbers, elevators full of pregnant Chinese women with chaperones. Shame on the Irvine Company for condoning this activity and making a ton of money.
Saw this alot at The Park apartments too!!
We have one of the houses currently in our neighborhood – we have seen more than 6 pregnant families over the course of two years in and out. Who do we contact?
What about all those pregnant Russian Women living in style in Trump Condos in Florida? When are they going to arrest them?
Please state where one can call to report this illegal activity. Apparently the police nor the Irvine Company won’t do anything.. totally agree with the opinion that all those children born here under fraud should be striped of the citizenship!!
The apartment next to mine is being used for this type of activities. I’ve seen at least 3 pregnant women move in and out of the apartment. I tried to tell the Resident Service Office about it, they didn’t give a F. They thanked me for reporting it and said they’ll look into it. Funny thing is, I didn’t see them take notes of the unit number or other information. This is infuriating! I am going to try report this to DHS website.
This is happening at the apartments directly across the street from the Korean shopping center on Alton and Jamboree. Each day I take a walk around the block for my lunch break, and I see a dozen or more pregnant “Chinese” women standing around in a group, with one man or sometimes a woman, apparently acting as there director. They all stand there listening to him/her speak in their language, and then they disperse and go in different directions. Always thought this was a bit weird. Our immigration policies are such a joke. When people are only expected to reveal their intentions for coming here, how difficult is it for them to lie, or overstay a visa, or even promise to report to the courts on a certain date. The citizenship of these children should be revoked, and the people running these scams should be imprisoned.
This is happening all over Irvine and you would need to be blind not to see this activity in The Village Apartments, Private residences in Woodbury, Cypress Park, Portola Springs, Great Park Communities and many of the apartments near the Diamond Jamboree Center at Alton and Jamboree. Hospitals are being ripped off driving up the cost of healthcare. Hospitals can’t even buy new equipment to help our citizens. Nobody cares because they bring so much money into this city. The Irvine Company just takes the cash for rent and doesn’t give a crap about reporting what’s going on in their apartment communities. It’s a complete shame and HSI doesn’t have the resources to get this under control. Liberal state liberal mind set the politicians in California won’t try to get it under control. If HSI camped out in Woodbury for one week they could bust up many more of these groups of crooks.
This is still happening. As a part time ride-share driver. I have made many pick-ups in the area of Encore and Sand Canyon I. Irvine and brought pregnant Chinese to the clinic in Santa Ana on 17th St. and Lincoln Ave. The clinic is a free standing building to the right of RBGB Dermatology. Here is how it works:
There is a primary female coordinator who calls her contact in the area I mentioned above. The coordinator gives the address to the contact. The contact then requests a pick-up of the client at the clients address just down the street from her in the ride-share app. The client does not speak English and is then dropped off at the clinic. The clinic entrance, on the left side of the building, has many pregnant Chinese women going into the clinic. There seem to be look-outs, in my experience, outside the clinic as they were all watching me take notice of what was going on.
I know the sequence of events because a wrong address was given and I arrived at the contacts location. The contact then called the coordinator, whom I spoke to, and asked me to change the location in the app to the correct address for the client in the contacts phone. I have started making notes of these suspected offenders for reference. I live in Irvine and have contacted the PD but have never received a call back from them.
Many of the pick-ups I have made didn’t seem to be looking on their phone for me to pick them up but just got in my car as it is clearly marked by the ride-share company name.
I am open to any questions you might have.
Dan
Oh well, rather have rich chinks than low class niggers or spics in Irvine.
For year we lived in the Irvine Co.’s Anacapa Apartments. I worked from home and would swim in the complex’s main pool at lunch. For a few months I would see two very pregnant women lounging in the pool area. Never a husband around, they didn’t speak a word of English, and looked as through they had enough money. This was back in 2014 and we moved up to NorCal later that year. Glad to be out of Irvine and the Irvine Co is immensely greedy and corrupt.
Deflect… obviously we know your nationality with that response.
I live in Richmond, BC., Canada. We are experiencing birth tourism here like you are in Irvine, California.https://www.richmond-news.com/news/weekly-feature/feature-richmond-hospital-becomes-passport-mill-1.230642
who do we contact? we have a house 2 houses down that is doing tihs
If it was me, I’d start with police.
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