A California man who is accused along with two others of using thousands of U.S. drivers’ licenses to fraudulently purchase luxury vehicles made his initial appearance in a Las Vegas federal court this week, officials said Friday.
Prosecutors say Xui Jie “Johnny” Chen, 32, of Los Angeles, along with 41-year-old Jin Wei Chen of Flushing, New York, and Yue Yuan, 34, of China, obtained more than 5,000 genuine drivers’ licenses belonging to American citizens in at least 14 states, including Nevada.
According to a press release from interim U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada Sigal Chattah’s office, the trio allegedly engaged co-conspirators to use those licenses to withdraw funds from banks in order to obtain financing for luxury cars under false pretenses.
The three each face charges of bank fraud conspiracy and multiple counts of aggravated identity theft related to use of the fraud victims’ licenses that were allegedly obtained fraudulently. Online court records show they made an initial appearance on Wednesday.
The three are being represents by federal public defenders LaRonda Martin, Wendi Overmyer, Brian Pugh, Aden Kahssai and Martin Novillo, according to the online case file. A jury trial is set to begin 9 a.m. July 14 before U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan.
If convicted, defendants could each face a maximum of 30 years in prison, with the aggravated identity theft carrying a two-year mandatory minimum penalty, according to Chattah’s office. That charge could run consecutive to any sentence imposed by the court for bank fraud conspiracy, the release stated.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, along with the Metropolitan Police Department, the Nevada Gaming Commission and the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Contact Casey Harrison at charrison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Casey_Harrison1 on X or @casey-harrison.bsky.social on Bluesky.
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