Alleged Chinese Agent Linked To Cambodian Scam Ring And Cartel Laundering
Last week, the FBI charged Irvine realtor Wanying "Heather" Zhang, 34, with operating as an unregistered foreign agent for China after allegedly surveilling the Taiwanese president's son in Seattle in 2025.[1]
CBS News linked Zhang via social media to a Bugatti owned by Chen Sokly.[1] The Justice Department describes Chen as the "enforcer" for Prince Group, which U.S. officials say ran at least $15 billion in online scams that used forced labor in Cambodia.[1] Prosecutors also allege Zhang ran an unlicensed currency exchange that generated about $190,000 in profits sent to a Chinese bank account, though no public filing ties her to the cartel case.[1]
On March 1, 2023, a DEA task force officer said he saw a member of an alleged money-laundering group deliver a weighted red tote bag believed to contain illicit cash to an Irvine house.[1] Construction entrepreneur Fatai Miao is the registered agent for a company based at that $4.5 million Irvine home, which a 2023 DEA complaint described as a "stash house" for a laundering network working with the Sinaloa Cartel.[1] Prosecutors say Miao was not charged in that cartel case but flew to China on a one-way ticket days before the FBI executed a search warrant at his Irvine home last month.[1]
Initial reporting emphasized the unregistered-agent indictment and the alleged Seattle surveillance; CBS's review of court records and social posts expands the story by connecting Zhang to a Cambodia-based scam operation and to people tied to a U.S. money-laundering network.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- Last week, the FBI charged Irvine realtor Wanying "Heather" Zhang, 34, with operating as an unregistered foreign agent for China after allegedly surveilling the Taiwanese president's son in Seattle in 2025.
- CBS News linked Zhang via social media to a Bugatti owned by Chen Sokly, described by the Justice Department as the "enforcer" for Prince Group, which the U.S. says ran at least $15 billion in online scams using forced labor in Cambodia.
- Federal prosecutors allege Zhang operated an unlicensed currency exchange that generated $190,000 in profits sent to a Chinese bank account, though no public filing yet ties her to the cartel case.
- Zhang's associate, construction entrepreneur Fatai Miao, is the registered agent for a company based at a $4.5 million Irvine home that a 2023 DEA complaint describes as a "stash house" for a money-laundering network working with the Sinaloa Cartel.
- DEA task force officer Steven Gonzalez reported that on March 1, 2023, he saw a member of the alleged money-laundering organization deliver a weighted red tote bag believed to contain illicit cash to the Irvine house.
- Prosecutors say Miao was not charged in that cartel case but flew to China on a one-way ticket days before the FBI executed a search warrant at his Irvine home last month.
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