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Chinatown businesswoman's sinister side exposed

BY PATRICIA HURTADO
STAFF WRITER

May 15, 2005

Cheng Chui Ping may look like a demure middle-aged businesswoman, so kindly that patrons of her New Hong Kong Variety Store in Chinatown affectionately called her "Big Sister Ping." But the government charges she had a far more sinister side.

Cheng, 56, is slated to go on trial Monday in federal court in Manhattan, charged with being what authorities have described as "the mother of all snakeheads" -- that is, a smuggler of humans. Her case is linked to the notorious 1993 grounding of the Golden Venture freighter off the Rockaway Peninsula, in which at least 10 immigrants died.


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According to prosecutors in the office of U.S. Attorney David Kelley, Cheng operated an international alien-smuggling operation that brought tens of thousands of people from China into New York City. She also is accused of running an illegal money-transferring business out of her 47 East Broadway storefront, which prosecutors say financed her trafficking operation and laundered money for fellow snakeheads.

In recently filed court papers, prosecutors charged for the first time that Cheng's smuggling operation actually began in the 1980s, and that she previously was caught and agreed to inform against the infamous Fuk Ching gang. But, officials now say, Cheng double-crossed the FBI, not coming across with the information and continuing her smuggling.

Prosecutors say Cheng commonly used ships -- some of which she owned -- to bring the aliens into East Coast cities such as Boston and New York and then transported them over land in rented U-Haul trailers, charging fees of up to $50,000.

Some immigrant experts say what makes Cheng unique is her audacity in operating an allegedly illegal business in the United States.

"American law enforcement have been very ineffective in catching relatively significant snakeheads," said Peter Kwong, a Hunter College professor who has written extensively on human smuggling. "She is one of the few they have . . . The unique aspect to Sister Ping is that she was brazen enough to be staying around in the U.S. Most of the people who are doing this do not want to be in the U.S."

Cheng's trial is likely the last chapter in the Golden Venture case, as several others involved either pleaded guilty or were convicted after trial. The ship's captain, Lee Peng Fei, was convicted in federal court in 1998 of seaman's manslaughter and other charges and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment. He admitted he directed the ship to run aground by telephone from his New York apartment.

In court records, prosecutors detail Cheng's shadowy life as a smuggler both before and after the deadly ship incident.

A later episode, in May 1998, also involved loss of life: Prosecutors say 14 aliens drowned off the coast of Guatemala as they were being transferred from a larger smuggling ship to a smaller boat.

Authorities track Cheng's smuggling activity back to March 1989, when she was arrested while trying to smuggle three aliens into the U.S. from Toronto, Canada. She pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge and served six months in prison.

During her imprisonment, prosecutors say, Cheng became a FBI informant against the Fuk Ching gang and "provided information about the alien smuggling activities." But prosecutors charge Cheng double-crossed them and "continued to engage in illegal activities even while she purported to be cooperating with the FBI."

After her release from prison, Cheng was deported to China in 1992. Records show that she was arrested at Kennedy Airport in March 1993 attempting to re-enter the country. Authorities released her pending an immigration hearing.

She apparently returned to New York City, where she opened the Chinatown shop. In 1993, gang members say, she invested $300,000 to help finance the Golden Venture operation.

The filthy, rusting ship, which had carried its human cargo of 300 illegal Chinese immigrants 16,000 miles, ran aground on a sand bar off Gateway National Recreational Area in the early morning hours of June 6, 1993. Pandemonium erupted and at least 10 people died of hypothermia or drowned as they tried to reach shore.

Weng Hui Lee, the powerful Fuk Ching gang leader who ran the Golden Venture operation for Cheng, is expected to testify that he arrived at her shop that morning and found her watching the television news about the incident.

"When I arrived, Sister Ping told me she had a bad feeling about the boat," Weng told a Hong Kong court. According to prosecutors, Cheng advised Weng, also known as "Ah Kay," to flee and offered him a farm she owned in South Africa as a hiding place. He eventually pleaded guilty to smuggling and racketeering charges and is serving a 20-year prison term.

In 1994, Cheng was able to slip out of the U.S. and go to Hong Kong, triggering an international manhunt. She was arrested at a Hong Kong airport on April 17, 2000, traveling under an alias with her son. She was extradited to the U.S. in July 2003.

In an interview Friday, Cheng's lawyer, Lawrence Hochheiser, declined to discuss details of the case, but did say he intends to attack the credibility of the eight to 10 cooperating witnesses that prosecutors say will testify against his client.

"Most of the witnesses are people who have been cooperating with the government for years to get a reduction in their sentences," Hochheiser said. "Most are Fuk Ching gangsters who have pleaded guilty to racketeering and murders . . . we're going to be attacking not what was said but who said it."

Experts say the spectacular drama of hundreds of immigrants braving seas, jumping ship and paying extravagant sums to come to America helped to fuel a U.S. crackdown on smugglers. Kwong, the Hunter College professor, said the Golden Venture incident forced smugglers to rethink their methods.

"The snakeheads have modified their methods and become more sophisticated. Ships are too risky now," Kwong said. "Subsequent to the Golden Venture, much of the smuggling is done by airplane. The business of smuggling has become more sophisticated to catch up and bypass everything that law enforcement has done."