U.S. Department
of Justice
Press Release
California woman charged with international parental kidnapping after attempting to flee to Canada with 12-year-old-daughter
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Mei Tian, 55, of Irvine, CA, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with international parental kidnapping and making a false statement to Customs and Border Protection officers. The charges carry a maximum penalty of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on the evening of September 27, 2024, Tian and her 12-year- old daughter were riding in an Uber vehicle, and attempted to make entry into Canada, but were refused because an officer had suspicions related to Tian’s admissibility as a visitor. She presented a letter indicating that she had permission from her husband to bring her daughter to Canada, but the officer questioned the authenticity of the letter and believed the signature on it was forged. As a result, Tian and her daughter re-entered the United States at the Rainbow Bridge Port of Entry in Niagara Falls, NY. Customs and Border Protection primary queries returned a positive alert, with records indicating that Tian had no legal right to take her daughter out of the country. The vehicle was referred to secondary for additional processing. During secondary inspection, CBP officers discovered several alert records related to Tian and her daughter. One indicated that Tian’s daughter was prohibited by court order from departing the United States, and that Tian and her daughter had been “on the run” since August 2024 and were not supposed to leave Orange County, California, without court approval.
Tian and her daughter were traveling with multiple pieces of luggage and multiple travel documents, including a U.S. Passport, a People’s Republic of China Passport, several cancelled People’s Republic of China passports, an Orange County Certificate of Live Birth, and a handwritten letter with a signature and notarized in the name of the father that purportedly gave permission to Tian to travel out of the country with her daughter.
Subsequent investigation determined that once in Canada, Tian was allegedly planning to travel to China with her daughter. In addition, investigators learned that the Riverside County, California, District Attorney’s Office was investigating the abduction of Tian’s daughter, and that the daughter’s father is the sole custodian of the minor child. The daughter was on a visitation with Tian, and was scheduled to be returned to her father on August 11, 2024, but was never returned.
Tian made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. and is being held pending a detention hearing on October 3, 2024, at 1:00 p.m.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by Customs and Border Protection, under the direction of Director of Field Operations Rose Brophy, and Homeland Security Investigations Border Enforcement and Security Task Force (Best), under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Scarpino.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Contact
Barbara Burns
716-843-5817
Updated October 3, 2024
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