LOS ANGELES — Two San Bernardino County residents were found guilty Friday of federal criminal charges related to a “birth tourism” operation that helped Chinese clients give birth in the United States to secure birthright U.S. citizenship for their children. Michael Wei Yueh Liu, 59, and Jing Dong, 47, both of Rancho Cucamonga, were convicted by a jury of one count of conspiracy and 10 counts of international money laundering.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced the verdict following a four-day trial. Liu and Dong operated the scheme from at least January 2012 to March 2015, running a maternity house in Rancho Cucamonga that provided housing and services to pregnant women from China who traveled to the U.S. to give birth. Their clients paid tens of thousands of dollars for assistance in obtaining visas, housing, transportation, and U.S. legal documents for their newborns.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Liu and Dong coached their clients on how to deceive U.S. immigration authorities, including advising them to lie on visa applications by claiming they were visiting for tourism and planning short stays, when the actual purpose of their trip was to give birth and stay for several months. The couple also instructed clients on how to conceal their pregnancies and evade customs scrutiny, recommending they fly through less scrutinized ports of entry, such as Hawaii, before traveling to Los Angeles.
Liu and Dong received payments from their clients through overseas transactions and used the funds to further their operation. Their services were aimed at ensuring that the children born in the U.S. would receive citizenship, after which the mothers typically returned to China within one or two months.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner scheduled a sentencing hearing for Dec. 9. Liu and Dong each face up to five years in federal prison for the conspiracy charge and up to 20 years for each count of international money laundering.