CHARLOTTE, N.C. — October 22, 2026. A federal judge in North Carolina sentenced Shu Jun Zhen, 31, of New York, to nine years in prison for her role in a money-laundering network that federal authorities say processed more than $92 million in illicit funds, including proceeds from international drug trafficking.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, the court on October 21 also ordered Zhen to forfeit nearly $23 million. Prosecutors describe the network as a Chinese money-laundering organization; that designation refers to the alleged organization’s structure, not a finding about any wider community.
What prosecutors established in court
Zhen pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to commit money laundering, laundering to conceal criminal proceeds, and conducting a monetary transaction involving more than $10,000 in criminally derived property. Federal prosecutors said she acknowledged knowing the money included drug-trafficking proceeds.
According to court documents summarized in the Justice Department’s release, Zhen collected cash from drug traffickers in the United States and deposited it in shell-company bank accounts, sometimes using real or false identities. Authorities say she personally collected and deposited approximately $23 million. The government attributes more than $92 million in laundering to the larger network; the larger figure should not be mistaken for the amount Zhen personally handled.
Investigation and status
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS Criminal Investigation with assistance from North Carolina law enforcement. The Justice Department said another defendant in the same organization had already received a prison sentence. The newly imposed nine-year sentence follows guilty pleas, rather than unproven pending charges against Zhen.
The government did not specify in the October 21 announcement how much of the broader organization’s assets were recovered or whether additional cases remain pending. The stated forfeiture amount reflects the court’s order, not proof that all those assets have been collected.
Primary source: U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of North Carolina, sentencing announcement dated October 21, 2026. See linked announcement for investigation details and related court filings.
