In April 2025 the Eastern District of California described a scheme in which victims were told to withdraw their savings and hand the cash to a courier for "safekeeping." On October 5, 2026, the man who collected it pleaded guilty, according to KION.
Binghui Liu, a Chinese citizen formerly of San Jose, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted collecting about $597,100 in cash from 24 victims in California and Nevada, KION and Hoodline reported. Sentencing is set for January 4, 2027, and he faces up to 20 years.
The indictment release, dated April 24, 2025, set out the method. Callers posed as federal law enforcement officers or employees and told victims that charges had been filed and that their bank accounts would be frozen.
Victims were told to withdraw their savings in cash, which couriers collected for supposed safekeeping. The couriers used fake names, code words and photographs of the packaged cash.
Liu was arrested on April 9, 2025, in an FBI sting, arriving at a victim's home expecting $20,000 that was in fact fake money. The conspiracy ran from February 2024 to April 2025.
One elderly victim lost over $780,000, according to the indictment release; the plea coverage gives a lower figure, and the release is the one used here.
The word "safekeeping" deserves attention because it is an instruction to move money somewhere safe, given by someone with apparent authority, and because a teller, an adviser or an APS worker can hear a client say it aloud.
It is a Signal, meaning what the client actually said. What it means, whether the client is being targeted or is repeating a script, is a separate question, and the person who heard the word does not have to answer it before asking about it.
Neither source names the California counties or Nevada cities where the victims lived, so this account cannot say whether the case touches any particular market.
If this is your family
If your parent says an official told them to move money to keep it safe, treat that sentence as the whole problem. A request to hand cash to a courier is a sign of a scam, whatever agency is named. Agree on a phrase your parent can say to any caller, such as "I'll call my family first," and ask them to use it every time.
Sources
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California, "Chinese National Indicted for Money Laundering Conspiracy Connected to Scam That Impersonated Federal Officers and Employees," April 24, 2025: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/chinese-national-indicted-money-laundering-conspiracy-connected-scam-impersonated
KION, "Man pleads guilty to scamming nearly $600K from victims in California, Nevada," October 5, 2026: https://kioncentralcoast.com/news/2026/10/05/man-pleads-guilty-to-scamming-nearly-600k-from-victims-in-california-nevada/
Hoodline, "San Jose man, 33, admits to $597K scheme that drained elders' life savings," October 5-6, 2026: https://hoodline.com/2026/10/san-jose-man-33-admits-to-597k-scheme-that-drained-elders-life-savings/