Trump donor swindled more than $30 million from people thinking they were getting access and visas

Original reporting: Trump Donor Pleads Guilty to Bilking People Who Wanted Access and Visas (New York Times)

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Source: The Independent

Trump donor swindled more than $30 million from people thinking they were getting access and visas

Sherry Xue Li and her co-conspirator attended a ritzy dinner event for Trump’s re-election in 2017

Kelly Rissman
in New York
Thursday 31 July 2025 15:02 BST

A Trump donor orchestrated a $30 million scheme that promised foreign investors permanent residency and access to U.S. politicians in exchange for their money.

Sherry Xue Li, 53, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration of campaign finance laws, the New York Times reports.

In her decade-long scheme, Li and her co-defendant Lianbo Wang defrauded investors out of more than $30 million through a fictitious development project called the Thompson Education Center based in Sullivan County, New York, federal prosecutors said.

Li originally marketed the project as a “Chinese Disneyland” that would include an amusement park, medical center, business center, a college, and homes, the federal complaint states. She later changed it to a for-profit university: Thompson Education Center

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Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-donor-scam-guilty-plea-b2799636.html

Alternate link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-donor-swindled-more-30-135834550.html