Oyster Bay Chinese Woman Sentenced to 9 Years in Elaborate Fraud Scheme

By Rupert Deedes

Sherry Xue Li, age 54, of Oyster Bay and her Co-Defendant Lianbo Wang, pled guilty to operating a long-running investment fraud in which she and her co-defendant solicited more than $30 million from primarily foreign (mostly Chinese) investors for a bogus US development project – with the fictitious name "Thompson Education Center" -- promising it would enable investors to obtain lawful permanent residence visas in the United States.

It was a fraud: Now Li has been sentenced to nine (9) years in federal prison. Her co-Defendant, Lianbo Wang, was sentenced to five (5) years.

Li pled guilty in mid-2025 to money-laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States, including obstructing FEC administration of campaign-finance laws. 

The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph Nocella, described Li’s actions as "cynical schemes."

"Li orchestrated an elaborate fraud to steal tens of millions of dollars from more than 150 victims around the world," stated Nocella. "She peddled false promises and outright lies to her many investors and stuffed her pockets while they suffered devastating losses."

"Meanwhile, she [Li] sought to obstruct the operation of free and fair elections in our country and sold access to the democratic process to the highest bidder," added Nocella.

In another scheme, Li and Wang had raised more than $1 million from foreign nationals, telling the foreign donors that the money would see them invited to a fund-raiser with President Donald Trump (in his first term).

Li and Wang then donated $600,000, in their own names, to Trump’s fund-raising committee - and other officials' campaign committees, and kept the rest of the money.

The scheme also involved structuring financial transfers and concealing the source and use of funds.

On February 27, 2026, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown sentenced Li to 108 months (9 years) imprisonment. The court also ordered forfeiture and repayment obligations of roughly $31.5 million and the forfeiture of certain properties.

Co-defendant Lianbo Wang, 48, received a 5-year prison sentence.

The DOJ emphasized that campaign committees and campaigns to which Li contributed were not charged and that President Donald Trump and other political recipients were not alleged to have known of the fraud.