In one of the most bizarre cases to emerge from the intersection of international grift, diplomatic subterfuge, and legal confusion, China-born conman Cary Yan managed to mislead US authorities by being prosecuted under his twin brother’s name – a twist that casts a spotlight on the limitations of American law enforcement when tackling complex Chinese transnational crime.

Cary Yan and his partner, Gina Zhou, both pleaded guilty in late 2022 in a New York federal court to bribing elected officials in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Their goal was audacious: to establish an autonomous special economic zone that would effectively serve as a futuristic, Chinese-aligned city-state in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. The pair were convicted and sentenced, but the story did not end there. As recently revealed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), US prosecutors had indicted Yan under the identity of his twin brother – a critical error that went unnoticed throughout the legal proceedings.

In an interview conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Cary Yan claimed that the FBI had confused him with his twin, Adam Yan (birth name: Yan Hong Hui). “We’re twins,” he said, beginning the conversation with a Christian prayer and beseeching divine punishment if he was lying. “That’s why the FBI got everything mixed up in their report.”

Reporters from OCCRP verified Yan’s claim by cross-referencing federal US court documents with Chinese court........

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