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Three people, including two from Sumter, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds through China and the Middle East, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Nasir Ullah, 28, and Naim Ullah, 32, both of Sumter, and Puquan Huang, 49, of Buford, Georgia, are accused of conspiring to launder at least $30 million derived from the trafficking of illegal drugs, including cocaine and fentanyl, according to court documents unsealed this week.
“As alleged in the indictment, the defendants laundered tens of millions of dollars in drug proceeds from the United States through China and the Middle East, enabling a continuous flow of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs into our country from Mexico,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Dismantling transnational criminal organizations and Chinese Money Laundering Organizations that support them is a critical priority for the Department.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Brook B. Andrews for the District of South Carolina said the operation had ties to multiple communities across the state.
“This $30 million money laundering operation, which has international ties, was conducted in multiple communities in our state,” Andrews said. “We will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to trace these illicit funds, disrupt these networks, and hold those involved accountable for the harm they present.”
The indictment alleges the defendants worked for a money laundering organization that collected drug proceeds across the United States and disguised the origin of the money by arranging transactions involving electronic goods shipped to China and the Middle East. They communicated with co-conspirators in China to conceal the illegal source of the funds, prosecutors said.
All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and, if convicted, face up to 20 years in federal prison.
The case is being investigated by the DEA’s Charleston Resident Office with assistance from multiple federal, state and local agencies, including the FBI, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and sheriff’s offices across South Carolina.
Trial Attorneys Mary K. Daly and Jasmin Salehi Fashami of the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Everett E. McMillian for the District of South Carolina are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
