Jennifer Peltz
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Two Chinese-American businessmen were charged on July 18 with using foreigners’ money in political donations to buy tickets to an exclusive dinner with then-President Donald Trump in order to The two were able to impress and deceive Chinese investors.
In a complex financial scheme involving political tentacles, Shirley Shirley and Lianbo “Mike” Wang raised $27 million for an ambitious development that never came close to approval, then misappropriated millions, prosecutors say US dollars are used for personal expenses.
Prosecutors said in court documents that to honor their promises — which often included visas to live in the United States — they used investor funds and foreigners’ cash to make large donations and meet with Trump and other prominent politicians .
“Together we can build a better, stronger, healthier community and ‘Make America Great Again!'” read one of their press releases promoting Lee and Wang’s participation in a campaign led by the incoming Trump administration The inaugural reception attended by various personalities.
Prosecutors have not charged the political action committee, which accepted donations from Lee and Wang, of any crime.
Lee, 50, and Wang, 45, were held without bail after their first appearances in federal court in Brooklyn, although their lawyers can ask for bail later. The pair are facing various federal conspiracy charges.
They were not asked to plead guilty, but Wang volunteered through a Mandarin interpreter, “I didn’t do this.”
Li’s lawyer, Nora Hirosawa, declined to comment. Wang’s attorney, James Ross, left a message seeking comment.
The naturalized U.S. citizen is a business partner who shares a Long Island home with some of Lee’s relatives, including her 15-year-old son.
For nearly a decade, Lee has been driving development plans near New York’s Catskill Mountains. Wang joins her as general manager. Originally envisioned as a cultural theme park called “America’s Chinatown,” it was turned into a proposal for a for-profit college campus after local officials told Li that the zoning would not allow her originally planned “China Disneyland.”
The “Thompson Education Center” also never materialized. Local officials denied the necessary sewer service in 2015, then flatly told Lee in 2017 that the project had not been approved, according to prosecutors’ court documents.
But she and Wang went on to tell investors the project was a success, sometimes sending them photos of the construction site. Prosecutors said that place was actually a house she had built elsewhere.
Court documents show that many supporters were attracted by the promises of investor visas, which were ultimately rejected as immigration officials expressed doubts about the viability of the “education center” project.
To deliver on these promises, Wang and Lee sought to build an influential image among prominent American politicians.
In some cases, images are textual.
Prosecutors said Lee and Wang solicited more than $600,000 in donations from foreigners (converted to Wang and Lee’s names) to attend and bring guests to a fundraising dinner with the then-president in June 2017. Photos from the event show Lee with Trump and then-First Lady Melania Trump.
It is illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. political campaigns, prosecutors say Lee and Wang know this.
“It is illegal for Chinese businessmen to donate. But these businessmen can invest in our company and become our shareholders. We can then arrange for them to meet with the president. The donation is absolutely necessary. Our company can do it and it is legal,” the court documents It shows Wang telling a potential investor in December 2018 after sending photos of Trump and Lee at a fundraising dinner.
Prosecutors said other investors or potential clients also obtained Lee or Wang pamphlets with Trump and other politicians, including then-Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Meanwhile, Lee, Wang and unnamed co-conspirators used at least $2.5 million in investor funds to buy jewelry, vacations, fancy restaurants, babysitters, traffic tickets and other personal items, according to prosecutors. Some of the investor’s money was also used for the defendant’s political activities, they said, including donations and the rental of a private jet to bring a Chinese to a Trump event in October 2017.
In 2017, Lee and Wang’s unusual campaign donations came to the attention of reporters amid a scrutiny of donors with ties to other countries who were trying to curry favor with the new Trump administration.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace of Brooklyn said his office was “committed to protecting our democratic process from those who expose it to illegal foreign influence.”
