US arrests two Chinese nationals in US$73m crypto scam
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The defendants are alleged to have instructed co-conspirators to open US bank accounts in the name of shell companies.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - US authorities charged two Chinese nationals in a cryptocurrency scam that laundered at least US$73 million (S$98 million) from defrauded victims, the Justice Department said on May 17.
US officials arrested Yicheng Zhang in Los Angeles on May 16, according to an indictment unsealed in a US District Court in California's central district later that day. Daren Li, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested at the Atlanta airport in April.
The US accused the two of being involved in a type of cryptocurrency investment scam known as pig butchering, which has become a global billion-dollar industry.
The defendants are alleged to have instructed co-conspirators to open US bank accounts in the name of shell companies.
Victims were induced online into depositing money into these accounts - funds that were then laundered through US financial institutions to bank accounts in the Bahamas.
“While fraud in the crypto markets takes on many forms and hides in many far-off places, its perpetrators aren’t beyond the law’s reach,” US Deputy Attorne-General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
Li and Zhang are both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and six counts of international money laundering. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count, the Justice Department said. REUTERS
