A San Gabriel Valley woman was sentenced Tuesday to more than 10 years behind bars for managing a network of money launderers who collectively moved over $11 million in funds stolen from elderly victims across the country.
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Cynthia Song, 43, of Arcadia, was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., who also ordered her to pay $10 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Song pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles in June to one federal count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
She was arrested in October 2024 after she returned from a trip to Mexico.
Song admitted in her plea agreement to conspiring with others to launder millions stolen from mostly elderly victims by receiving fraudulently obtained funds and quickly transferring them to overseas accounts, primarily in China.
The defendant recruited at least 15 others -- mainly people of Chinese descent living in the Los Angeles area, some of them in the country unlawfully -- to take part in the scheme. Song instructed recruits to form business entities and open multiple business bank accounts to further disguise the money laundering, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said at least $11.6 million stolen from over 180 victims flowed through the scheme's bank accounts.
Song and her associates skimmed between 5% to 10% of the funds for themselves before the money was transferred to China, according to her plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court.
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