Man Held in Probe of Fake Passports
A Diamond Bar man was in federal custody Wednesday on charges he received more than $2 million for useless passports he sold to Asians hoping to get into the United States.
Tommy Ho Ching Cheng, 49, who lives in Diamond Bar and has offices in Pasadena and El Monte, made a brief court appearance in San Francisco on Tuesday. He was arrested a day earlier at San Francisco International Airport.
Cheng is expected to appear before a federal judge today for a detention hearing.
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Cheng in February on 12 felony counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, inducing illegal immigrants to enter the U.S., money laundering and tax evasion.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
