Qiuju Wu, of Queens, pleads guilty to stealing millions from bank accounts belonging to missing Long Island couple

A Queens woman admitted on Tuesday to stealing more than $2.8 million from the bank accounts of a missing Long Island couple, though authorities still don’t know the whereabouts of her alleged accomplice or her victims.

Qiuju Wu, 58, of Flushing, appeared before U.S. District Judge  Nusrat Choudhury during a hearing to waive her right to an indictment and plead guilty to a conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Prosecutors believe that she stole the money from JuanJuan Zwang and her husband, Peishuan Fan, who went missing on March 31 from Old Brookville and have not been seen since.

Wu, dressed in tan prison scrubs, wept at times during the hearing and put her hands together in front of her and bowed when addressing the judge.

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND

A Queens woman admitted on Tuesday to stealing more than $2.8 million from the bank accounts of a missing Long Island couple, though authorities still don’t know the whereabouts of her alleged accomplice or her victims.Qiuju Wu, 58, of Flushing, appeared before U.S. District Judge Rusrat Choudury during a hearing to waive her right to an indictment and plead guilty to a conspiracy to commit bank fraud.Federal prosecutors believe she stole the money from JuanJuan Zwang and her husband, Peishuan Fan, who went missing on March 31 from Old Brookville and have not been seen since.

Prosecutors charge that on June 29, 2025, Wu changed her individual Bank of America account to a joint account with one of the victims.

Initially, Wu’s account had $1,191.26 in it, but over the next few days, it grew to hold millions of dollars that were once in the Old Brookville couple’s name, investigators said.

First, $890,000, on June 30, was transferred from the victims’ bank account into Wu’s account, authorities said. The next day, $500,000 was put into her account, and $190,000 was transferred between 1:34 p.m. and 1:41 p.m. to the account of QJW Trading Inc., a business incorporated by Wu, with her same address, according to an FBI affidavit.

Less than 10 minutes later, investigators said, bank surveillance video captured images of Wu in the bank branch withdrawing $700,000 from the account.

On July 2, 2025, according to an FBI affidavit, the other victim’s name was added to Wu’s account, and she, along with her alleged co-defendant, Yinye Wang, also known as Roy Wang, transferred another $860,000 from Zwang and Peishuan’s account into Wu’s account.

The next day, Wu and Wang were recorded on bank security footage withdrawing $418,500, officials said.

This continued, and by July 10, 2025, $2.8 million had moved from the couple’s account into the account controlled by Wu and Wang, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors have not said if the money theft has been tied to the disappearance, however investigators found evidence that Wang attempted to steal the identity of other account holders at the same bank.

Transportation Security Agency officers detained Wang at the Los Angeles International Airport last December and searched his luggage during an interrogation.

They found several cellphones, driver’s licenses from New York and Oklahoma in other people’s names, 17 credit cards that were not in Wang’s name, and 12 bank account applications under six different names at the same branch where Wu withdrew large sums of money.

Wang also had handwritten notes with the names, dates of birth, and personal information of several people.

Wu intended to plead last month, but it was postponed when she told the judge she felt depressed. On Tuesday, she admitted her crime.

“Between June and August of 2024 in the Eastern District of New York, I agreed with others to open a bank account,” Wu said through an interpreter. “I understood that these accounts would be used by others to transfer and obtain money that was received through fraud. I know the purpose was to get the money by means of fraud. I knew that this was illegal, but I agreed to do it to get money. I admit to the conspiracy to defraud the bank.”

Wang was arrested in California, but he was released on bail and is believed to have absconded.

Wu’s plea sheds no new light on the mystery of what happened to the Old Brookville couple. Nassau County police Det. Tracey Cabey said that there’s been no update in the case.

The couple, a businessman and housewife who came to the United States in 2022, have two sons, 12 and 20, who have not seen their parents for nearly a year.

“While my client and his brother are grateful that this person has accepted responsibility for stealing the family’s money, obviously, they are preoccupied with the much more important issue of their parents’ disappearance,” attorney John Carman, who represents the older brother, said.

Wu faces a maximum of a year and seven months under her agreement with the government. She also owes $1.8 million in restitution, plus has to forfeit another $1 million in addition to $101,000 in fines, according to the judge.

Wu is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1.