Bangladesh, June 20 -- In one of the most bizarre cases to emerge from the intersection of international grift, diplomatic subterfuge, and legal confusion, China-born conman Cary Yan managed to mislead US authorities by being prosecuted under his twin brothers name – a twist that casts a spotlight on the limitations of American law enforcement when tackling complex Chinese transnational crime.

Cary Yan and his partner, Gina Zhou, both pleaded guilty in late 2022 in a New York federal court to bribing elected officials in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Their goal was audacious: to establish an autonomous special economic zone that would effectively serve as a futuristic, Chinese-aligned city-state in the heart of the Pacific ...