Prostitutes & Bears: Sting Op Snared Big-Game Hunting Scheme

Source: Daily Beast

PREDATORY

Prostitutes & Bears: Sting Op Snared Big-Game Hunting Scheme

The feds say illegal expeditions in Alaska targeted wealthy Chinese visitors.

Justin Rohrlich
Reporter
Updated Jul. 16, 2023 3:29AM EDT Published Jul. 15, 2023 7:30PM EDT -

The week-long, two-person bear hunt cost $60,000. But if the clients wanted to hire prostitutes to keep them company as they waited out their prey, they could shell out another $1,800 each, per evening—or $500 per sex act.

The bizarre pitch was part of what prosecutors say was an illicit years-long scheme to get rich off of illegal big-game hunts advertised on a Chinese-language social media platform. The alleged mastermind is now facing a slew of felony charges.

Jun “Harry” Liang told clients that if they managed to net a bear, he’d purchase the gall bladder, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine but illegal to buy or sell under Alaska law, according to a newly unsealed criminal complaint obtained by The Daily Beast. If not, the feds say Liang told the men he had bear gall bladders for sale at $5,000 apiece—a relative bargain on today’s black market.

What Liang didn’t know, the complaint states, was that his customers were actually undercover federal agents wrapping up a year-long probe into his business. The effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) deployed an elaborate sting operation to get Liang, culminating in a long list of charges against the 40-year-old Fairbanks resident, including multiple counts of wire fraud and money laundering, in addition to a trio of wildlife trafficking offenses.

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Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/chinese-national-charged-for-bonkers-alaskan-bear-hunting-scheme