NEW YORK — A New York convenience store owner was arrested Monday on charges that she ran an unlicensed check cashing operation which moved more than $1.1 million in cash for her customers — one of whom, prosecutors say, was an undercover law enforcement agent.
The indictment came down on Oct. 23 in the Eastern District of New York, where a federal grand jury charged Cheng with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Cheng, 55, of New York, faces a maximum of five years in prison if she is convicted.
According to court documents cited by the Justice Department, Cheng owned a New York convenience store that provided check cashing services without a license to at least three individuals. They included the owner of a social adult day care center and the undercover agent.
Cheng directed that checks be deposited into business bank accounts held by various companies and controlled by other people, the department said. Her customers received cash in return, less her fee of 2 to 3 percent.
She documented the cashed checks in text and audio messages. To the undercover agent, she held out a lasting arrangement — they should “plan to do [it] long term” — while cautioning that “[i]t is very dangerous.”
From March 2025 through July 2026, Cheng allegedly took part in providing more than $1.1 million in cash to her customers. Law enforcement seized approximately $875,000 in connection with the investigation.
The arrest was announced by Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division; U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York; Miranda L. Bennett, acting deputy inspector general for investigations at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General; Pete Gizas, acting special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York; and NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch.
The case is being investigated by HHS-OIG, HSI New York and the NYPD. Deputy Chief Patrick J. Campbell and Trial Attorney Leonid Sandlar of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section are prosecuting it.
An indictment is merely an allegation. Cheng is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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