Immig loan group hit as $20M scam

A Manhattan woman preyed on her fellow Chinese immigrants with a $20 million underground lending scam — even luring one victim from a Buddhist temple, new court papers allege.

Wenlan Zeng, who last lived on Eldridge St. near Canal St., ran 14 “money pool clubs” from 2013 to March 2017, with the help of her family.

According to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed by 120 club participants, the pools were meant as “mutual aid” organizations, often for immigrant community members who needed quick cash.

Members of Wenlan’s clubs — which had from 76 to 78 members each – were required to contribute $500 twice a month for a fixed period of up to three years and two-anda-half months.

Members who wanted to borrow from their respective pools would enter “bids” in the form of interest rates.

The prospective borrower who offered club members the highest interest rate would be able to get that month’s pot, court papers contend.

But Wenlan did not abide by the bidding process despite collecting this money — enabling a massive fraud, participants allege.

“None of the plaintiffs received back their contribution, which they had made for years,” the lawsuit charges. “It is believed that the total losses for all club members exceeded $20,000,000.”

“It is believed that all the money was taken by Defendant Wenlan and nobody actually bid the money,” the suit further contends. “By fraudulently representing to the plaintiffs that the money was bid by some other members, Wenlan and her family misappropriated all the contributions made by the club members.”