The SEC is hunting down QZ Asset Management Ponzi scammers in China.

After defrauding consumers out of “millions of dollars” , QZ Asset’s Blake Yeung Pu Lei went into hiding.

The SEC believes Lei (below) is hiding in China, although its first attempt at finding him came up blank.

As per a motion filed by the SEC on May 19th;

Defendants QZ Asset and Yeung Pu Lei are both believed to be in China.

As a result, the SEC must serve Defendants through the Hague Convention for Service Abroad of Judicial or Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters.

On April 15, 2025, the SEC received notice that attempts to serve Defendants at the address provided were unsuccessful.

The SEC has since identified four additional addresses in China where it believes Defendants QZ Asset and Yeung Pu Lei may be located and is currently having the requisite forms requesting service at these addresses translated to Mandarin.

Once translation of the documents is complete, the SEC will wire the necessary fees and FedEx the service package to China’s Central Authority.

The SEC believes a second attempt at service by Chinese authorities will take “three to six months”.

 

Update 19th May 2026 – Latest update on service from a May 14th SEC filing;

The SEC’s initial attempts to serve QZ Asset and Yeung Pu Lei—which took approximately five months—were unsuccessful.

After its initial service attempts were unsuccessful, the SEC identified four additional addresses in China where it believes QZ Asset and/or Yeung Pu Lei may be located.

However, initiating additional service attempts required the SEC to repeat the process outlined above proscribed by the Hague Service Convention.

The SEC completed the requisite forms, had the same translated to Mandarin, and wired fees to China’s Department of Agriculture.

Confirmation of payment was received on August 19, 2025. The SEC then received confirmation from FedEx that its service package was received by the Central Authority on August 25, 2025.

On November 18, 2025, undersigned counsel received notice from the Central Authority that they were unable to serve Yeung Pu Lei at two of the four addresses.

On December 10, 2025, undersigned counsel received notice from the Central Authority that they were unable to serve Yeung Pu Lei at the remaining two addresses.

This continued, with the Central Authority informing the SEC it wasn’t able to effect service on subsequent addresses in China provided.

As of the date of this filing, the SEC is still awaiting notice from the Central Authority on whether it was able to serve QZ Asset at the remining address.

In the interim, the SEC is looking into whether there are any additional addresses at which QZ Asset or Yeung Pu Lei may be located.

The SEC has asked the court for another 180 days, which was granted on May 15th. The SEC has further informed the court that if service is unsuccessful, it will “seek alternative relief”.