Bin Hao, 48, of Herndon, Virginia, spent years presenting himself to members of the Chinese-American community in Virginia and Maryland as a successful hedge fund trader and real estate financier. Through his company Qidian LLC, registered in Virginia and operating out of Tysons, Hao sold promissory notes and membership interests in special purpose vehicles tied to Miami real estate projects, promising annual returns of between 8 and 25 percent and assuring investors their principal was guaranteed. Starting no later than January 2017, these solicitations drew in investors across 17 states, most of them reached through personal relationships or word of mouth within the Chinese-American community.
By the time the Miami real estate company Qidian had been funding filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2020, the scheme had collected at least $26M from investors, recycled more than $2.3M of new investor money to pay earlier investors in Ponzi-like fashion, and funneled at least $793,267 into Hao’s personal accounts, credit cards, car lease, and mortgage. On March 5, 2026, a federal court in Florida entered a final judgment ordering Hao to pay a total of $2,238,136 in disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties.
Investors Were Told Their Money Was Guaranteed and Their Projects Were Low Risk
Qidian held itself out as a high-tech real estate investment and financing company. Hao provided investors with offering materials including subscription agreements for unit interests in special purpose vehicles and promissory notes bearing interest rates that ranged as high as 25 percent per year depending on the project. A PowerPoint presentation given to investors stated they would “own 100% of the project prior to successful exit” and that the investments carried a “project completion guarantee” as well as “principal guaranteed” and “return guaranteed.” Qidian’s website echoed these claims.
According to the SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, these statements were false. Qidian did not own any percentage of the real estate projects it invested in. When the Miami real estate company filed for bankruptcy in 2020, Qidian appeared on the list of unsecured creditors, meaning it had no ownership stake and no priority claim on the underlying assets.
The Miami Developer Stopped Paying Interest in January 2019, and Hao Kept Raising Money Anyway
In January 2019, the Miami real estate company that had been the primary vehicle for Qidian’s investments mostly ceased making interest payments to Qidian. Hao knew this directly. In a June 2019 email to the company’s CEO, Hao wrote that he was “crippled for awhile” and using his own funds to pay investors because the company had stopped paying. He told the CEO: “I know you have financial difficulties.”
Despite this knowledge, Hao and Qidian did not disclose the Miami company’s deteriorating financial condition to existing investors or to the new investors they continued to solicit. Instead, they continued pitching the same investment structures with the same guarantees of high returns. After January 2019, they raised at least $10.3M from at least 67 investors across both the failing Miami ventures and new real estate offerings in Washington, DC, and Maryland. Multiple existing investors had their original positions rolled into new agreements, accompanied by fresh promises about interest payments that were never fulfilled. New investors signed up without knowing that the company underpinning the deals had already stopped paying.
More Than $3.8M in Investor Funds Was Misused, Including $733,217 Transferred to China
Rather than investing the money raised after January 2019 in real estate, Hao and Qidian commingled it with other funds and used it for purposes never disclosed to investors. More than $2.3M of new investor proceeds went to pay principal and interest owed to older investors, a classic Ponzi structure in which the scheme sustains itself on incoming capital rather than actual returns from underlying investments.
Hao also misappropriated at least $793,267 for his personal benefit, broken down across four categories: $519,765 in cash withdrawals and transfers to his personal bank account, $234,627 in payments to his Chase Bank, American Express, and Citibank credit cards, $22,986 in payments to BMW Financial for what appear to be personal vehicle lease payments, and $15,887 in mortgage payments on his personal residence. Hao and Qidian also transferred $733,217 to three separate accounts in China. None of the individuals listed as owners of those accounts have been identified as investors.
A Final Judgment of $2.2M Closes the SEC’s Litigation Against Hao
The SEC filed its complaint on September 28, 2023, charging Hao and Qidian with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. On March 6, 2025, both defendants consented to bifurcated judgments without admitting or denying the allegations. They agreed to be permanently enjoined from future violations and to pay disgorgement and civil penalties in amounts to be determined by the court. Hao also agreed at that stage to an officer-and-director bar, permanently prohibiting him from serving in any executive or board capacity at a public company.
On March 5, 2026, the court entered the final judgment as to Hao, ordering disgorgement of $1,526,484, prejudgment interest of $475,201, and a civil penalty of $236,451, totaling $2,238,136. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Paul Hopker and supervised by Jason R. Berkowitz of the Miami Regional Office. Litigation was led by Alice Sum with assistance from Michael J. Gonzalez, under the supervision of Russell Koonin and Stephanie N. Moot. This case was part of the Miami Regional Office’s Fraud Against Minority Groups Initiative.
Conclusion
The Bin Hao case follows a pattern the SEC has documented repeatedly in fraud cases targeting immigrant communities: a trusted figure within a close-knit network, investment materials written in the language of credibility and guarantee, and a structure that appears legitimate until the underlying asset fails and the recycling of investor money becomes impossible to sustain. Hao knew by January 2019 that the Miami developer had stopped paying. He raised $10.3M after that date anyway. The $2.2M judgment against him represents a fraction of what investors lost, and Qidian itself is now defunct and administratively dissolved, leaving little behind for those who sent their savings to a company that was already failing when they signed their agreements.
