United States v. Vivian Tat
Opinion
Opinion
BACKGROUND
This appeal stems from a sting operation to uncover money laundering near Los Angeles. In 2014, the government indicted Ruimin Zhao; Raymond Tan, who is Zhao’s husband; and Defendant for conspiring to launder $25,500 in 2009. Four years later, the government added two counts that accused Defendant Tat of making false entries in the bank’s records.
The scheme went this way: Jimmy Yip, the government’s informant and a former racketeer, persuaded Tan to convert proceeds from Yip’s purported drug sales into cashier’s checks. Yip’s money actually came from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”). In exchange, Yip would pay Tan $4500. Tan said that he was the man for the job because his wife knew an insider at a local bank: Defendant. Tan and Yip agreed that the checks would be made out to a fictitious “Oscar Santana.”
Defendant, meanwhile, knew that one of her customers sought a way to withdraw a large amount of cash without showing the withdrawal on her account. (The customer
1 We affirm Defendant’s and her codefendant’s convictions for conspiring to launder money in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.