Major Chinese Crime Gang Dismantled in New York
Jim Kouri, CPP
September 12, 2005
A 22-count Indictment in Manhattan federal court appears to have dismantled a major, violent criminal organization-- the Yi Ging Organization-- operating throughout New York City.
As alleged in the indictment, the Yi Ging Organization regularly resorted to violence and threats of violence to preserve, protect, and augment its power and illegal money-making activities, which included extortion, the operation of several lucrative gambling parlors in the Chinatown section of Manhattan, and the large-scale importation and distribution of pirated DVDs and CDs.
The federal indictment charges 39 defendants with wide-ranging criminal activity, including racketeering offenses (“RICO”), assaults in aid of racketeering, extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, extortionate debt collection, conspiracy to use extortionate means to collect extensions of credit, witness tampering, money laundering, trafficking in counterfeit DVDs and CDs, the operation of large-scale illegal gambling businesses, and drug trafficking.
The indictment also seeks a total of $10 million in forfeiture from the 18 defendants charged with RICO offenses, reflecting the lucrative nature of the organization’s criminal businesses. In connection with the unsealing of the Indictment, the Government also executed five search warrants at various illegal gambling locations in Manhattan and Queens.
This unsealed indictment is the result of coordinated investigations over the past three years directed at criminal organizations based in the Chinatown section of Manhattan by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Postal Inspection Service and the New York City Police Department. In November 2004, related investigations resulted in the arrests of 51 members and associates of two other violent gangs that extorted numerous businesses and individuals, operated gambling parlors and trafficked in counterfeit goods in New York City.
The Yi Ging Organization allegedly reaped enormous profits from its criminal activities. It is alleged that its gambling parlors took in up to $50,000 a night and its pirated DVD and CD business generated millions of dollars in profits. Allegedly, members of the organization traveled regularly to China to obtain illegal copies of American and Chinese DVDs, which they then smuggled into the United States. The organization then copied the DVDs, as well as pirated CDs of popular music, which were sold at stores it controlled in Manhattan and elsewhere in New York City, it is alleged. The indictment also alleges that the organization sent much of its profits back to China, in part to purchase additional DVDs and CDs.
(Special thanks to members of the New York City Police Department for their assistance with this report.)
As alleged in the indictment, the Yi Ging Organization regularly resorted to violence and threats of violence to preserve, protect, and augment its power and illegal money-making activities, which included extortion, the operation of several lucrative gambling parlors in the Chinatown section of Manhattan, and the large-scale importation and distribution of pirated DVDs and CDs.
The federal indictment charges 39 defendants with wide-ranging criminal activity, including racketeering offenses (“RICO”), assaults in aid of racketeering, extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion, extortionate debt collection, conspiracy to use extortionate means to collect extensions of credit, witness tampering, money laundering, trafficking in counterfeit DVDs and CDs, the operation of large-scale illegal gambling businesses, and drug trafficking.
The indictment also seeks a total of $10 million in forfeiture from the 18 defendants charged with RICO offenses, reflecting the lucrative nature of the organization’s criminal businesses. In connection with the unsealing of the Indictment, the Government also executed five search warrants at various illegal gambling locations in Manhattan and Queens.
This unsealed indictment is the result of coordinated investigations over the past three years directed at criminal organizations based in the Chinatown section of Manhattan by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Postal Inspection Service and the New York City Police Department. In November 2004, related investigations resulted in the arrests of 51 members and associates of two other violent gangs that extorted numerous businesses and individuals, operated gambling parlors and trafficked in counterfeit goods in New York City.
The Yi Ging Organization allegedly reaped enormous profits from its criminal activities. It is alleged that its gambling parlors took in up to $50,000 a night and its pirated DVD and CD business generated millions of dollars in profits. Allegedly, members of the organization traveled regularly to China to obtain illegal copies of American and Chinese DVDs, which they then smuggled into the United States. The organization then copied the DVDs, as well as pirated CDs of popular music, which were sold at stores it controlled in Manhattan and elsewhere in New York City, it is alleged. The indictment also alleges that the organization sent much of its profits back to China, in part to purchase additional DVDs and CDs.
(Special thanks to members of the New York City Police Department for their assistance with this report.)
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