GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A purchase of a suspicious number of gift cards at a Duluth Walmart bled into an international investigation of a money laundering crime spree, according to authorities. Nearly three years later, the woman at the center of it all has claimed responsibility, prosecutors said.
A woman has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering after first being arrested in Duluth. According to the Department of Justice, before being arrested again on the Texas border, the Chinese national was on the run for approximately seven months after fleeing the country.
Jianjie Liu faced 11 counts of money laundering conspiracy, nine counts of money laundering and access device fraud before pleading guilty.
“Liu laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars from schemes that bilked elderly victims,” U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in a press release. “Telephone scams regularly victimize the elderly and Liu played a pivotal role, receiving money directly from the victims.”
In October 2019, Liu was arrested at a Walmart in Duluth after she tried to purchase a suspicious number of gift cards, according to Erskine. Authorities found more than 700 blank gift cards in her vehicle and victim information within her phone.
An 89-year-old priest in Minnesota was victimized when a scammer posed as an internet security company employee and offered the man a $555 rebate, Erskine said. The priest provided his bank account information and then the scammer pretended to mistakenly deposit an additional $20,000 into the victim's bank account, then requesting that the victim return the $20,000 by sending the scammer a $20,000 check to a bank account that Liu controlled.
“This guilty plea demonstrates that my office will continue to pursue perpetrators of these malicious Social Security-related scams that prey upon unsuspecting people, especially the elderly, to deprive them of their assets and resources,” Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration said. “I thank the Duluth Police Department for their assistance in this investigation and I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecuting this case.”
A 73-year-old woman from Washington also fell victim to a Facebook scam that cost her roughly $12,000. Liu purchased gift cards in Louisiana with $1,000 from the scam, the attorney said.
A 78-year-old South Carolina man was scammed out of $14,000 after a scammer pretended to be a fictitious police officer. Records show $5,000 from the scam was sent to an account that Liu controlled.
The Department of Justice said that Liu received more than $150,000 from the scams that ultimately cost the victims hundreds of thousands of dollars. Liu continued to receive money from these scams while on pre-trial release after being arrested in Duluth, Erskine said.
The court revoked Liu's bond and detained her. Rather than appear in court, Liu fled the country and was on the run for approximately seven months before being arrested at the Texas border while trying to re-enter the United States.
Liu's sentencing is scheduled for June 16 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross.
