US arrests Chinese developer for money import scheme

US authorities have charged a real estate developer from the Chinese territory of Macau and his principal assistant for engaging in a two-year scheme to import more than $4.5 million into the United States under false pretenses.

Developer Ng Lap Seng and his assistant Jeff Yin, 29, were accused of engaging in a conspiracy to obstruct and make false statements to U.S. customs officials. The criminal complaint was made public on Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

Both men were arrested on Saturday, according to a spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Prosecutors in Bharara's public corruption unit are handling the case after an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Neither Ng nor anyone from his Macau-based company Sun Kian Yip Group were available for comment on the U.S. case. A spokeswoman named Zhang said Ng rarely visited the company.

His lawyer, Kevin Tung, said in an email it was up to the prosecution to prove Ng's guilt. "I don't have a burden to prove my client is innocent," Tung said.

A lawyer for Yin made no comment when contacted on Monday.

Ng, 68, heads a major real estate development company in the former Portuguese territory and his interests also straddle casinos and apparel. He also sits on government advisory body the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

According to the complaint, Ng brought more than $4.5 million in U.S. cash into the United States from China from July 2013 to September 2015 with Yin's help.

The complaint said Ng and Yin concealed the true purpose of the money, repeatedly telling U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials falsely that it was for buying art, antiques or real estate, or was to be used for gambling.

The complaint did not specify its real purpose, although it cites a June 2014 meeting with an unidentified business associate in the New York City borough of Queens to which Ng brought a suitcase with about $400,000 in cash that he had falsely claimed was meant for gambling and buying paintings.

It says an FBI agent served a federal subpoena on Ng in July 2014 in connection with an unrelated investigation.

The subpoena required Ng to appear personally two months later but he failed to do so or to respond, the complaint said.

Ng has previously figured in a Congressional probe into how foreign money was funneled into the Democratic National Committee before the 1996 presidential election during the Clinton administration. He was never charged.

The current case is U.S. v. Seng, U.S. District Court, District of New York, No. 15-mj-03369.