Jun Wang, a 64-year-old Chinese national and lawful permanent resident, was convicted at trial and sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for running an extensive gift card laundering scheme that moved more than $2.28 million in victim proceeds through retail redemptions and secondary purchases.
Jun Wang was tried and found guilty of participating in a money laundering conspiracy tied to a multi-year scam that targeted Americans. He admitted involvement in the scheme during recorded conversations with investigators and was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison after the conviction.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI’s Albany Field Office announced the outcome of the case, noting it as part of a broader federal crackdown on fraud. This prosecution was brought under the Department of Justice’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and reflects stepped-up enforcement against schemes that prey on ordinary people.
Evidence at the bench trial showed that, from June 2019 through June 2021, Wang redeemed $2,285,039.81 in gift cards that had been purchased by victims across the country. Wang received gift card details electronically from co-conspirators overseas and then used the illicit proceeds to buy new gift cards at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Florida to obscure where the money had come from.
To conceal the volume and timing of his redemptions, Wang used different registers inside the same stores and drove from store to store, sometimes visiting several Walmarts in a single day. He frequently redeemed gift cards just hours or even minutes after the cards were bought by the victims, minimizing the chance of early detection.
Multiple victims testified at trial about buying gift cards after being scammed online or over the phone and then seeing those funds disappear.
Although the trial evidence showed Wang never dealt directly with most victims, he admitted in a secretly recorded FBI conversation that “[w]e all know” about the fraud, which is “[e]asy to know.” In the same recording he shrugged off harm to an elderly victim, saying, “[t]he only loser is the lady,” and, “[o]ther than this lady, everybody’s happy.”
https://x.com/FBIAlbany/status/2074601081246519507
“Mr. Wang preyed on vulnerable victims to enrich himself and his co-conspirators to the tune of $2,285,039.81, and on a recording boasted about defrauding senior citizens,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated. “My office is committed to aggressively pursuing all acts of fraud to protect the American people from defendants like Mr. Wang and ensure justice for the victims who were defrauded.”
As part of the sentence, Wang was ordered to forfeit $2,285,039.81 and to pay restitution of $275,634.27 to identified victims, and he will serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment. Because the offense of conviction is an aggravated felony, Wang also faces deportation to China once his sentence is complete.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli stated, “Mr. Wang once joked that everyone was happy in his scheme and the only person who lost anything was his elderly victim. With this sentence, the tables have turned, and he has now lost his freedom. Fraud is one of the most pervasive threats facing our communities today, but the FBI is relentless in our mission to aggressively investigate and bring to justice anyone responsible for stealing from hardworking Americans.”
The FBI investigated the scheme and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael F. Perry and Tamara B. Thomson prosecuted the case in court. Prosecutors emphasized the practical work involved in unraveling cross-border fraud operations and the role of coordinated investigative work in securing the conviction.
On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, known as the Fraud Division, to focus resources on fraud investigations and prosecutions. That effort supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a government-wide push chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to cut down on fraud, waste, and abuse in federal benefit programs and to protect taxpayers and victims.
