Old Westbury billionaire arrested after FBI catches him using phony Florida driver's license

Some things money can’t buy.

A Chinese Billionaire who lives in Old Westbury was due back in Nassau County Criminal Court Wednesday on domestic violence charges. But he wasn't there.

39 Applegreen Road in Old Westbury, the mansion where Chinese billionaire Qin Hui lived until the FBI arrested him on federal charges.Photo byNassau County Land Records Bureau

Instead, defendant Hui Qin sat in a Brooklyn jail cell while his lawyer explained to a Nassau County judge why this case had to be adjourned. Again.

Qin's domestic violence charges in Nassau County erupted last September with his arrest by Old Westbury Police. They hauled the billionaire businessman off in handcuffs on allegations he chopped up the door to his wife's bedroom closet with an ax.

The axe Hui Qin is accused of using to chop open a closet door inside his house. After a 9-1-1 call, Old Westbury Police arrested him.Photo byUSAO Case 2:23-mj-00865-JMW document 5

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney used to live in that house 100 years ago, before the closet door was bashed up.

OWPD says they also have evidence Qin previously tried to strangle his wife, Duo Liu. Their little boy and Liu's mother, Xuemin Liu, witnessed the alleged incident, they said. Qin's marriage, which was already on the rocks, is now over. But they all still live together.

The DOJ pointed out that Forbes Magazine included Qin on its 2019 list of billionaires. Estimated net worth: $1.8 billion.

Did that impress Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly? Hard to say if money talks, but when Qin was arraigned September 23, 2023, the Assistant DA immediately asked the judge for permission to reduce Qin's Felony Mischief charge for the damaged door to a Misdemeanor.

Permission granted.

An electronic lock that blocked access to a closet inside Hui Qin's house. His wife installed the lock, according to court filings.Photo byUSAO Case 2:23-mj-00865-JMW document 5

Then Judge Gary Carlton released Qin -- "ROR" -- with a “do not harass” order of protection for his ex-wife so Qin could go home to his Old Westbury house.

Seems Qin's problems were just beginning. A week later, the FBI knocked on the Old Westbury front door with a warrant. Qin was arrested on federal charges.

Court records show Qin stopped appearing at his domestic violence axe case court sessions in Nassau County. On November 6, 2023, County Judge Maxine Broderick signed an arrest warrant -- stayed, temporarily, so everyone could sort out the Qin family's problems. It's still not clear if anyone's told Judge Broderick about Qin's federal problems.

A sign warns visitors not to continue down Applegreen Drive unless they are "authorized". The FBI was here last September.Photo byC.J. Teevan

Meantime, Qin is locked up in Brooklyn, 20 miles away from his fancy house. Federal Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay still considers him a flight risk. Judge Lindsay ordered him at Metropolitan Detention Center while his lawyers argue about the plea offer on the table.

The FBI indictment says "Hui Qin" (aka Qin Hui, Hui Quin, Muk Lam Li and Karl, aliases listed in his federal indictment) wired more than $5 million out of Hong Kong to a U.S. bank account he opened with the fake name -- which he bought from the Chinese government in 2008. Apparently you can do that in China.

A Nassau County Land Records photo of Hui Qin's mansion, on file.Photo byNassau County Land Records Bureau

The FBI says Qin also used a phony driver's license in Florida to travel internationally -- on private jets -- back and forth to China and other countries under his fake name.

FBI agents said Qin cooperated at first when they showed up to question him. He discussed his fake "Muk Lam Li" ID and how he used it. But when FBI agents confronted him as he stepped off the plane after one of his international trips, he told FBI agents he’d “rather be detained” than give out his cellphone password. It was seized by the FBI.

Qin has agreed to plead Guilty to Immigration Fraud. But details are still being worked out. The FBI asked the federal judge for his "permanent" detention until he hands over the password to his cellphone.

They got their wish. Besides checking boxes for “use of aliases” and “family ties” outside the U.S., Magistrate Judge Lindsay wrote, by hand, on the “Order of Detention Pending Trial” Form, a list of reasons Qin won't be released: “use of false ID’s, significant wealth outside country, use of false address, transfer of property to evade authorities, failure to adhere to court orders, no bail package proffered, and witnesses tampering.”

Qin is also suspected of Election Tampering. Court filings point to $11,600 he gave three U.S. politicians for their campaigns using "straw donors".

The sign for Applegreen Drive in Old Westbury, named after the estate of Gloria Vanderbilt Whitney, who called it "Applegreen".Photo byC.J. Teevan

Qin's immigration status – the DOJ says he’s a Chinese citizen who got a green card and became a permanent, legal U.S. resident in 2019 – doesn’t bar him from campaign donations. But he’s limited to $3,300 per candidate. Bigger donations to a single candidate are against the law.

Qin initially retained Aidala Bertuna & Kamins, the law firm of right-wing Fox News talking head Arthur Aidala, the next day. One month later, however, AB&K was replaced. He retained federal criminal defense lawyers Glenn Obedin, Garden City lawyer James Miskiewicz of Greenberg Traurig, and the Long Island boutique law firm of Benjamin B. Xue in Glen Cove. It is unclear what led to that decision. But Arthur Aidala, Marianne Bertuna and Michael Kamins weren’t the lawyers who showed up in court for him. And money clearly wasn’t the problem.

Now Xue, Miskiewicz, Obedin and the DOJ have announced they are close to settlement. The Judge ordered Hui detained until the deal is official.

Hui made a fortune with his Hong Kong company, SMI Corporation. He picked up his Old Westbury mansion on Applegreen Drive in 2011 for $15.8 million, according to public records. Originally 630 acres, the estate was known as “Applegreen” in its Gold Coast days.

The Nassau County District Courthouse, where Hui Qin was arraigned in September 2023 on a Felony mischief charge.Photo byC.J. Teevan

100 years later, Old Westbury is still a place for the rich. Qin's neighbors include Harry Singh, who owns Bolla Oil Corp., on I.U. Willets Road; Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who closed on one of the cheaper homes on Saddle Ridge Road last year for $5 million; and the $90 million house on Whitney Lane built by billionaire Wall Street banker Steven Schonfeld. Howard Stern lived on Pinetree Lane, before the divorce. Heiress Mary Macy lived on Post Road.

Qin also has a pad in Manhattan.

Now he has 1,600 inmates for neighbors. If he gets deported after this, he may never see his house again.

Cells at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park have been occupied by convicted Lottery Lawyer Jason Kurland, Teflon John Gotti, and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Mineola criminal courthouse. Nassau DA had Qin's Felony charge reduced to a Misdemeanor "in the interest of justice". His case remains open.Photo byC.J. Teevan

Qin is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on May 14, 2024 by Judge Joan Azrack. He's supposed to be in Mineola, Long Island on April 26, 2024, to see Judge Maxine Broderick for his domestic violence door-chopping mischief case. They can't proceed without him, but the feds won't release him.

All the money in the world can't help him now.

In 2019, Forbes listed billionaire Hui Qin as one of the richest people in the world.Photo byGiorgio TrovatoonUnsplash