Washington, April 3 (IANS) A Chinese national unlawfully residing in the United States has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in an identity theft and vehicle fraud scheme involving luxury cars, federal prosecutors said.
David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, said Huachun Zheng, also known as “Ri Yuan,” 43, was sentenced by US District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Zheng and his associates used stolen personal and financial information, along with counterfeit or stolen identity cards, to secure loans to purchase or lease high-end 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 $94,742.73 in financing to purchase a 2019 Porsche Panamera from the Greenwich dealership. The fraud was detected before the vehicle could be resold, and the dealership repossessed it.
Prosecutors said Zheng’s co-conspirators also obtained financing fraudulently to purchase additional vehicles from the same dealership.
The investigation further revealed that Zheng and others 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 cheques used to purchase jewellery. At the time of that arrest, he was driving a Maserati that had been purchased from a dealership in Jamaica, New York.
The vehicle was registered in the name of the same identity theft victim whose information Zheng later used to obtain financing for the Porsche in Greenwich.
Zheng, who did not have legal status in the United States, has been detained since his arrest on January 28, 2025.
He pleaded guilty on January 6, 2026, to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Authorities said Zheng will face immigration proceedings after completing his prison sentence.
–IANS
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