Chinese national indicted in federal court for laundering money through Big Island properties

A Chinese national has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly laundering $11 million through properties on the Big Island.

According to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice, Yao Zhungjun, 50, of Beijing defrauded his employer — a Chinese corporate entity called J. R. Simplot Company — of millions of dollars and routed that money into six real estate developments on the Big Island.

Yao’s scheme involved artificially inflating prices of grass seed orders to Washington-based seed producer Jacklin Seed Company, which J. R. Simplot owned. He then, acting in conjunction with Jacklin’s general manager, Christopher Claypool, allegedly negotiated kickback payments from customers in exchange for rebate payments from J. R. Simplot, which the two pocketed.

The duo collected more than $10 million in rebates from just one Chinese seed distributor, according to the DOJ report.

Between March 2010 and June 2016, Yao allegedly wired more than $11.6 million from Hong Kong to accounts at First Hawaiian Bank that Claypool used to purchase and develop six parcels on the Big Island. By Oct. 2018, Claypool had sold those properties for more than $11.4 million, which was transferred to accounts at brokerage firm Edward Jones.

Claypool has already pleaded guilty to the conspiracy in the District of Oregon, but Yao remains at large. If convicted, Yao faces a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, a fine of more than $20 million and three years’ supervised release.