Washington, April 3: A Chinese national residing illegally in the United States has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for committing fraud. The individual, identified as Huachun Zheng, was found guilty of identity theft and orchestrating a significant fraud scheme involving luxury cars. This information was disclosed by federal prosecutors.
U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan for the District of Connecticut announced that Zheng, 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford. Zheng is also known by the alias “Re Yuan.”
According to court documents and statements presented, Zheng and his accomplices utilized stolen personal and banking information. They also employed fake or stolen identification cards to secure bank loans for purchasing or leasing expensive vehicles from a dealership in Greenwich.
The vehicles were then transported to New York, where the group attempted to resell them.
On September 27, 2022, Zheng used a stolen identity to obtain financial assistance of $94,742.73 to purchase a 2019 Porsche Panamera from the Greenwich dealership. However, the fraud was uncovered before the vehicle could be resold, leading to its seizure by the dealer.
Prosecutors indicated that Zheng’s co-conspirators also fraudulently obtained funding to purchase additional cars from the same dealership.
Further investigations revealed that Zheng and others had used stolen identity information in other fraudulent schemes.
On September 10, 2022, Zheng was arrested in Nassau County, New York, in connection with a scheme involving fraudulent checks used to purchase jewelry. At the time of his arrest, he was driving a Maserati, which he had purchased from a dealer in Jamaica, New York.
The car was registered under the name of the victim of identity theft whose information Zheng later used to secure funding for the Porsche in Greenwich. Zheng has been in custody since his arrest on January 28, 2025.
He pleaded guilty on January 6, 2026, to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Authorities stated that following his prison sentence, Zheng will face immigration proceedings.
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