Tao Liu - Cartel money launderer

Hong Kong businessman Tao Liu helped launder millions of cartel drug money, including for the Sinaloa Cartel. He awaits sentencing for that and trying to bribe a public official to get passports. Liu lived in Hong Kong but frequently traveled to the U.S. and Mexico. He was scooped up like a dog in Guam.

Liu, who boasted of his GOP connections, pleaded guilty.

Xizhi Li, 45, who lived in Mexico, played a pivotal role. He had direct connections to El Chapo. In 2018, cops in Miami seized more than $617k from a bank account of Xizhi Li, using the name "Franco Ley Tan," one of his 13 aliases. Chinese have set up elaborate networks to carry out money laundering schemes. The network hid drug money in casinos, Guatemala front companies, and through U.S. and foreign bank accounts. The group also used drug profits to buy American and Chinese goods, which are sent to cartels in Mexico for resale. The men face 20 years in jail.