A Chinese national, Daren Li, has pleaded guilty to laundering $73 million linked to crypto scams through multiple shell companies in the United States. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement on November 12, Li, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, confessed to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted to his role in laundering millions from various investment scams, including pig butchering crypto schemes, a type of scam where criminals build trust with victims before convincing them to invest heavily in fraudulent opportunities.
From August 2021 to April 2024, Li, alongside his associate Yicheng Zhang, used U.S.-based shell companies to funnel money obtained from victims. Court filings reveal that the funds, obtained through wire fraud, were deposited into multiple bank accounts under these fake companies. Once the money was in place, Li moved it into accounts he controlled, converting it into cryptocurrencies like Tether, which were then transferred to various crypto wallets managed by him and his accomplices.
Out of the $73.6 million laundered, $59.8 million went through U.S. shell companies, with the remainder deposited directly into bank accounts connected to the scheme. In addition, the DOJ’s investigation uncovered accounts linked to this operation at Deltec Bank in The Bahamas and a crypto wallet associated with the scheme that had received over $341 million in digital assets.
Li, awaiting sentencing in March 2025, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, supervised release, and potentially hefty fines, including restitution for victims. Pig butchering scams, notorious for targeting vulnerable individuals by building false trust, have reportedly pulled in over $75 billion worldwide between January 2020 and February 2024, with the elderly being particularly susceptible to these schemes.
