Iowa At Center Of National Cooking Oil Conspiracy

Money laundering but make it cooking oil.

We all know Iowa has a lot of pigs and corn but evidently, we have some sketchy activity involving cooking oil too.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office-Southern District of Iowa, 13 people were charged in a scheme that involved stealing used cooking oil.

A federal grand jury in Des Moines turned up a 9-count indictment last week on the 13 Chinese nationals involved. They were indicted on charges including racketeering, money laundering, and conspiracy to transport stolen goods. Of the 13 charged, 4 of them are from Iowa (specifically Des Moines).

What allegedly happened is this: used cooking oil was stolen from restaurants' collection tanks. That oil can be refined into biodiesel and resold. They then drove trucks full of the used cooking oil to warehouses across the country, including in Nevada and Ankeny, Iowa. Then, they sold the stolen cooking oil and laundered the proceeds.

It has not been released which Iowa restaurants were involved. Also impacted were restaurants in Tennessee, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kentucky. Illinois restaurants also had used cooking oil stolen but it is not known which ones.

Meanwhile, the trial of the 4 Iowa individuals involved (Xian Quan Guo, Jianfa Huang, Futao Wang, and Xiangjing Wang) was set for February 2nd, 2026.

5 of the other defendants are from New York, 2 are from Oklahoma, 1 is from Ohio and 1 is from Texas. They will also make their initial court appearances in the Southern District of Iowa on later dates.