Man Pleads Guilty for His Role in Laundering Crypto in $73 Million Scam
Key takeaways
- 41-year-old Daren Li, a dual citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis and China, pleaded guilty to laundering $73 million stolen through a crypto scam.
- US prosecutors accused Li of taking part in crypto investment scams, including pig butchering, which raked millions from victims.
- Li admitted to helping open US-based accounts under shell companies through which they laundered the stolen funds.
Foreign National Indicted for Crypto Related Money LaunderingA citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis and China, Daren Li, pleaded guilty to laundering proceeds from crypto investment scams.
According to prosecutors, 41-year-old Li and his co-conspirators raked millions through fake crypto investments and pig butchering scams between August 2021 and April 2024.
A plea agreement filed in a California District Court revealed Li admitted to helping launder proceeds from these scams.
He was arrested by US authorities on April 12 at Atlanta International Airport in Georgia. A May 17 press release by the US Department of Justice revealed that Li was indicted in the Central District of California on May 16.
Li admitted that he instructed his accomplices to open US-based bank accounts with names of shell companies. This helped them conceal the nature, source, ownership, and source of the funds.
The scammers convinced their victims to transfer millions of dollars to their accounts. These funds were later converted to Tether (USDT) and moved to various wallets that Li and his co-conspirators control.
According to court filings, one of the wallets linked to the scheme received over $341 million in crypto assets.
In a recent statement, Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, said that Li carried out this scheme outside the United States. According to Argentieri, he used several shell companies and international bank accounts to conceal the act.
Li admitted that he and his co-conspirators directly deposited $73.6 million in stolen funds into bank accounts linked with the scheme. About $59.8 million of this fund was sent from US shell companies that laundered the funds.
Possible SentencingLi is charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy. After his guilty plea, District Judge Robert Gary Klausner set his sentencing hearing for March 3, 2025.
Based on his offense, Li could face a maximum of 20 years in prison, with 3 years of supervised release. His sentencing might also include payment of a penalty of $500,000 or twice the gross amount laundered in the scheme.
As part of Li's sentencing, prosecutors indicated that the court might order him to pay full restitution to the scam victims. This could be from $4.5 million to $73 million.
Besides Li, the authorities arrested his co-conspirator, Yicheng Zhang, a 38-year-old Chinese national residing in Temple City, California. Zhang was arrested in Los Angeles on May 16.
According to the DOJ, Zhang worked with Li in the money laundering scheme. Both were responsible for supervising the lower-level co-conspirators who sent proceeds to overseas bank accounts in the Bahamas.
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