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Long Island residents Quanzhong An, age 55, and his daughter, Guangyang An, age 34, both of Roslyn, were named in an eight-count indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn Thursday, Oct. 20.
The indictment charges a total of seven Chinese nationals with taking part in an international forced repatriation effort known as “Operation Fox Hunt,” which prosecutors said involved surveilling, harassing, and coercing the victim to return to China at the order of the country’s government.
Quanzhong An, the lead defendant, reported directly to China’s Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, prosecutors said.
The operation sought to locate and repatriate alleged fugitives who had fled to foreign countries, including the United States, without approval or coordination from the US government.
According to investigators, Quanzhong An, who is the majority shareholder in a hotel in Flushing, Queens, targeted the victim and his son, identified as John Doe-1 and John Doe-2. The group also targeted the victims’ other family members, both in the US and in China, prosecutors said.
As part of the scheme, several Chinese-backed conspirators allegedly forced a relative of the victims in China to travel to the US in September 2018 to meet with John Doe-2 and convey threats meant to coerce John Doe-1’s return to China.
During one meeting at a restaurant in Queens, the relative was heard on a recording explaining that he had been forced to come by the Provincial Commission, which sought to repatriate the 100 most wanted fugitives, according to prosecutors. John Doe-1 was reportedly on that list.
Investigators said the group also engaged in a pattern of harassment targeting John Doe-1 and his family members, including warning them that “coming back and turning yourself in is the only way out,” prosecutors said.
“Avoidance and wishful thinking will only result in severe legal punishments,” one defendant reportedly told the family.
The Chinese government further harassed the family by filing a lawsuit in New York State Court alleging that John Doe-1 had stolen money from his former Chinese-based employer, and that John Doe-2 had knowledge of and benefited from his father’s scheme.
Quanzhong An later admitted that the civil lawsuits against them would be withdrawn if John Doe-1 returned to China.
He also told them the Chinese government would keep “pestering” them and make their daily life “uncomfortable,” according to prosecutors.
“They will definitely find new ways to bother you,” Quanzhong An reportedly told them. “It is definitely true that all of your relatives will be involved.”
Federal prosecutors also accused Quanzhong An and his daughter, Guangyang An, of engaging in money laundering involving millions of dollars from the Chinese government to the US financial system.
As part of that scheme, the pair and their co-conspirators repeatedly lied to American banks to obscure the ownership and control of the funds, prosecutors said.
“As alleged, the defendants engaged in a unilateral and uncoordinated law enforcement action on US soil on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China, in an effort to cause the forced repatriation of a US resident to China,” US Attorney Breon Peace said.
“The United States will firmly counter such outrageous violations of national sovereignty and prosecute individuals who act as illegal agents of foreign states.”
Quanzhong and Guangyang An were arrested Thursday, Oct. 20, and were later arraigned in federal court in a Brooklyn federal courtroom.
If convicted of all the charges against him, Quanzhong An could face more than 30 years in prison.
The remaining defendants, who are all Chinese nationals, are still at large, according to prosecutors.
They were identified as:
- Tian Peng, age 38;
- Chenghua Chen, age unknown;
- Chunde Ming, age unknown;
- Xuexin Hou, age 52;
- Weidong Yuan, age 55
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