In brief
- Prosecutors said the scheme used social media, dating platforms and spoofed trading sites to build trust before extracting funds, a tactic known as “pig butchering.”
- At least $73.6 million in victim funds was routed through bank accounts and U.S. shell companies before being converted into crypto, court filings show.
- U.S. authorities said the operation was run from scam centres in Cambodia and involved multiple co-conspirators, eight of whom have pleaded guilty.
A U.S. court sentenced a crypto scam organizer to 20 years in prison for his role in a $73 million global fraud and laundering scheme, even as he remains a fugitive after fleeing electronic monitoring.
A federal judge in California sentenced Daren Li, a dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, in absentia for his role in a global crypto investment scam conspiracy that U.S. prosecutors say targeted American victims through social media, dating platforms, and spoofed trading websites, according to a statement from the Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs.
Prosecutors said co-conspirators built trust with victims through unsolicited messages and online relationships, then funneled them to counterfeit crypto platforms or impersonated tech support agents to extract funds, in a technique called “pig butchering.”
The court also imposed a three-year term of supervised release, authorities said, after Li fled in December by cutting off an electronic monitoring device.
Ari Redbord, global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, told Decrypt that scam centers like the one Li operated from in Cambodia "are now among the largest organized cybercrime industries in the world, rivaling or exceeding many forms of drug trafficking and ransomware in total revenue."
"What sets them apart is scale and consistency," Redbord said. "They generate continuous cash flow, target victims globally, and rely on repeatable social-engineering models rather than episodic attacks, and cryptocurrency accelerates this model by enabling rapid movement, layering, and consolidation of funds."
Li pleaded guilty in November 2024 to money-laundering conspiracy tied to crypto investment fraud, and is the first recipient of victim funds in the case to be sentenced, with eight co-conspirators already pleading guilty.
At least $73.6 million in victim money was deposited into accounts linked to the ring, including nearly $60 million routed through U.S. shell companies, before being converted into crypto.
The sentencing comes amid heightened international scrutiny of scam operations in Southeast Asia.
In November, Interpol formally designated scam compound networks as a transnational criminal threat affecting victims from more than 60 countries, recognizing that crypto-related fraud now sits at the core of the sprawling industry.
Last month, China executed 11 members of the Ming clan behind Myanmar scam compounds tied to over $1.4 billion in fraud and at least 14 deaths, while five members of the rival Bai family were also sentenced to death in November for operating dozens of scam centers.