Man Sentenced For Fraudulently Purchasing Luxury Cars From Greenwich Dealership: Feds

GREENWICH, CT — A 43-year-old resident of China, who was living unlawfully in the United States, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for fraudulently purchasing luxury vehicles from a dealership in Greenwich, according to an announcement from David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Huachun Zheng, also known as "Ri Yuan," who was last residing in Queens, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford on April 2.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Zheng and others used stolen personal and financial information and stolen or counterfeit identity cards from multiple identity theft victims to apply for loans to purchase or lease luxury vehicles from a Greenwich car dealership, Sullivan said, noting they then transported the vehicles to New York and sought to resell them.

On Sept. 27, 2022, Zheng, using a stolen identity, obtained $94,742.73 in financing to purchase a 2019 Porsche Panamera from the Greenwich dealership, Sullivan said.

The dealership later repossessed the vehicle before it could be sold after the fraud scheme was uncovered, Sullivan said.

Zheng’s co-conspirators fraudulently obtained financing and purchased other vehicles from the dealership, Sullivan noted.

An investigation found that Zheng and his co-conspirators used stolen identity information to perpetrate other frauds, Sullivan said.

On Sept. 10, 2022, Zheng was arrested in Nassau County, N.Y., in connection with a scheme in which he and others passed fraudulent checks to purchase jewelry, according to Sullivan.

At the time of that arrest, Zheng was driving a Maserati that had been purchased from a dealership in Jamaica, N.Y., and was registered in the name of the victim whose identity Zheng used to purchase the Porsche Panamera from the Greenwich dealership later that month, Sullivan said.

Zheng has been detained since his arrest on Jan. 28, 2025. On Jan. 6 of this year, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Zheng faces immigration proceedings when he completes his prison term.