LOS ANGELES: A Chinese national pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges of running a “birth tourism” scheme in California that catered to wealthy Chinese clients, including government officials, who paid large sums of money so their children would be US citizens.
Dongyuan Li, 41, admitted in her plea agreement that between 2013 and March 2015, her company — called “You Win USA Vacation Services — assisted mainly Chinese foreign nationals who were pregnant to travel to the US and give birth.
The company website advertised that it had catered to more than 500 Chinese birth tourism customers who, according to officials, were housed in 20 apartments in Irvine, south of Los Angeles.
Authorities say Li charged between $40,000 and $80,000 for her services and over two years amassed $3 million in wire transfers from China. – AFP
