A Chinese billionaire was sentenced to seven months in prison on Thursday by a federal court in New York for making shadow political donations as well as committing immigration fraud and using false identification.
Qin Hui – whom Forbes magazine said was worth US$1.8 billion in 2018 and who operated a now defunct Hong Kong-based entertainment entity called SMI Culture – pleaded guilty to the charges in March.
The tycoon will receive credit for the seven months he spent in jail following his arrest in early October at an apartment he kept in Manhattan’s iconic Plaza Hotel. He faces immediate deportation.
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“Qin’s brazen flouting of our political and immigration systems and his defrauding government agencies resulted in a felony conviction, prison sentence and today, his removal from the United States,” said Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the federal court that heard the case.
“Qin has learned a lesson in American civics the hard way, that no one is above the law.”
As outlined in court documents and the plea proceeding, Qin, 56, agreed to reimburse other individuals who made US campaign contributions on his behalf in 2020 and 2021.
These were made to the campaign committees of a New York City-wide political office, a member of the United States House of Representatives for a congressional district in New York and a House of Representatives seat in a Rhode Island congressional district.
Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to any federal, state or local election.
The court did not identify the recipients of Qin’s donations.
But in March, citing a source, The New York Times reported they were New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Congressman Andrew Garbarino of Long Island, and Allan Fung, a former mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, who ran for US Congress.
It is unclear whether the recipients knew the ultimate source of the funds they received.
Adams previously denied knowledge of the straw-donor operation, although at a press conference in March the mayor said he had encountered Qin, calling him “one of those people who I met while on the campaign trail”.
Meanwhile, the intermediaries Qin used to channel the donations reportedly funnelled about US$11,600 to the campaigns on his behalf, which resulted in their filing false contribution reports with the Federal Election Commission in 2022.
Qin also admitted falsely swearing in US immigration documents that he had never used another name. The names he has employed, prosecutors said, included Hui Quin, Muk Lam Li and Karl.
According to court documents, Qin received the Muk Lam Li alias from a Chinese government official in 2008.
And over the next year, before applying for a US visa, he obtained a Hong Kong identification card, a Chinese identification card and a Hong Kong passport with the Li alias.
The documents contained Qin’s photograph but a different birthday. Using the alias, Li reportedly then transferred more than US$5 million from China to a US bank account.
Part of the sum was used to buy the luxury Plaza Hotel apartment in Manhattan where Qin lived.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Henry Mazurek, Qin’s lawyer, said Thursday’s outcome was bittersweet for his client.
“He is pleased that the judge agreed to sentence him to time served, but is saddened to leave a country he admires,” Mazurek said.
“I believe that today’s result, including Mr Qin’s self-deportation, is America’s loss because he is a compassionate businessman and philanthropist.”
Qin also pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining a Florida driving license under the name Hui Quin using a false Florida address and fake bank and credit card statements.
A month before his arrest last year in the straw-donor case, police in New York’s Nassau County arrested Qin on charges of attempting to attack his ex-wife.
The two were still living together at the time, and the arrest happened soon before she was due to testify in a civil case against him in Manhattan federal court.
Prosecutors in that case said Qin tried to break down a locked door with an axe. The incident reportedly transpired after an earlier attack on his ex-wife in which he had tried to strangle her.
The apparent effort to intimidate his ex-wife involved a lawsuit in Manhattan brought by a Chinese investment management group trying to enforce a US$450 million foreign arbitration award in China against Qin.
In that case, the tycoon allegedly transferred the ownership of his Long Island home to his ex-wife and ex-mother-in-law for only US$10 during the arbitration process in China, apparently in a bid to avoid the arbitration judgment.
Officials on Thursday voiced hope that Qin’s sentence would serve as a warning.
“Hui Qin violated our democratic norms by illegally attempting to influence election campaigns through fraudulent political donations,” said James Smith, the assistant director-in-charge at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York field office.
Thursday’s developments “should dissuade any future schemers from engaging in similar activity”, Smith added.
“The FBI is committed to exposing all forms of corruption, especially those that threaten election integrity and our duly-elected officials.”
More from South China Morning Post:
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