Chinese National Receives 46-Month Sentence in $36.9 Million Crypto Money Laundering Case
A US federal choose sentenced a Chinese nationwide to just about 4 years in jail for his position in laundering greater than $36.9 million tied to a crypto funding rip-off.
This sentencing marks an enforcement milestone as US authorities step up efforts to dismantle cryptocurrency fraud networks.
Inside the $36.9 Million Crypto Scam
According to an announcement launched by the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Jingliang Su, a 45-year-old Chinese nationwide, was a part of a world legal community. The group defrauded 174 US victims via a fraudulent digital asset funding scheme.
Prosecutors stated the group contacted victims through unsolicited social media messages, cellphone calls, textual content messages, and on-line courting platforms. They gained their belief earlier than pitching fraudulent funding alternatives.
The co-conspirators used fake websites that closely resembled respectable cryptocurrency buying and selling platforms, persuading victims to switch funds. The scammers allegedly stole the cash whereas deceptive victims into believing their investments had been growing in worth.
“New funding alternatives might sound intriguing, however they’ve a darkish facet: attracting criminals who, in this case, stole then laundered tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} from their victims,” First Assistant United States Attorney, Bill Essayli, stated.
The operation used a classy laundering infrastructure. Authorities estimate that greater than $36.9 million in sufferer funds was moved from US financial institution accounts managed by the group right into a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas.
The funds had been transformed into Tether (USDT) and despatched to digital wallets managed in Cambodia. Co-conspirators in Cambodia then distributed the transformed funds to scam operations throughout the area.
The authorities revealed that Su has been in federal custody since December 2024. He pleaded responsible in June 2025 to 1 rely of conspiracy to function an unlawful cash transmitting enterprise.
On Tuesday, US District Judge R. Gary Klausner sentenced Su to 46 months in federal jail. In addition, the choose ordered him to pay greater than $26 million in restitution.
Furthermore, eight co-conspirators have pleaded responsible in the case. Among them, Jose Somarriba and ShengSheng He obtained jail sentences of 36 and 51 months, respectively.
The technique displays the sample of “pig butchering” scams. These are a type of long-con fraud in which perpetrators first construct belief with victims earlier than exploiting them financially. Notably, these varieties of scams have been rising considerably.
In October, US prosecutors charged Cambodian nationwide Chen Zhi with working forced-labor “pig butchering” crypto scams that allegedly stole billions from victims worldwide.
In a latest report, Chainalysis noted that high-yield funding applications (HYIP) and pig butchering scams remained the dominant fraud classes by quantity in 2025. The blockchain analytics agency estimates that scams and fraud throughout the sector triggered greater than $17 billion in losses during the year.
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