Zhang, 48, of Windham, N.H., and Zheng, 47, of Quincy, were charged with money laundering and unauthorized transfer of funds, the release said. Also charged is Vincent Feng, 32, of Quincy. Da Rod, 30, of Massachusetts; Wei Qing Xing, 58, of Quincy; Xian Rong Zeng, 45, of Hanover; and Qiu Fang Zeng, 59, of Windham, NH, the statement said.
Another defendant, Chengzou Liu, 36, of Braintree, was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said the eight carried out extensive conspiracies in what appeared to be legitimate businesses.
“This indictment should serve as a stark warning to both drug traffickers and business operators involved in money laundering: Your conduct is criminal, and you will be prosecuted under federal law,” Rollins said.
Prosecutors charged Zhang and Zheng. They used their businesses as fronts for an extensive money laundering and money laundering scheme involving several associates, including their relatives Wei Qing Zheng, Xian Rong Zheng and Qiu Fang Zheng, the statement said.
After the group received drug proceeds in Boston and New York as payments, it transferred the equivalent price in Chinese currency to dealers’ bank accounts and sold the drugs to people in the U.S. at discounted prices, prosecutors said.
The group conspired to hide the source of the funds and avoid US and Chinese reporting requirements by keeping their transactions off the books, the statement said.
Members of the group bought thousands of Apple products using stolen or fraudulent gift cards, shipped the items to places like Dubai, and received tens of millions of dollars in money transfers, the statement said.
Liu smuggled the marijuana and laundered the money through China Gourmet, “appropriating a large amount of drug proceeds, particularly in excess of $30,000, to the restaurant and to Qiu Mei Zheng,” prosecutors said.
In March, detectives seized more than $250,000 in suspected marijuana proceeds in Wei Qing Zheng’s vehicle as he drove from New York to a restaurant in Boston, according to the statement.
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter. @jeremyfox.
