US Sentences Fugitive to 20 Years Over $73 Million Crypto Scam
A U.S. federal court sentenced Daren Li, a dual Chinese and St. Kitts and Nevis national, to 20 years in prison and three years’ supervised release for organizing a global cryptocurrency scam and laundering $73.6 million, despite his fugitive status after fleeing electronic monitoring. Li’s operation, conducted from Cambodia, targeted U.S. victims via social media, dating platforms, and fraudulent crypto trading websites, using “pig butchering” social engineering tactics to extract funds. The scheme routed nearly $60 million through U.S. shell companies before converting it to crypto. Li pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy in November 2024 and is the first defendant in the case to be sentenced; eight co-conspirators also pleaded guilty. Authorities describe such scam centers as major organized cybercrime operations, surpassing drug trafficking and ransomware in revenue and exploiting cryptocurrency’s anonymity for scalable, consistent fraud. The case highlights increasing international concern over Southeast Asian scam networks, with recent high-profile arrests and executions targeting network leaders in the region.
