A United States court has sentenced Jingliang Su, a Chinese citizen, in a high-profile money-laundering case. The defendant pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy charge and faces 46 months in prison. US regulators continue their probe into crypto-related crimes to bolster public trust.
174 Americans Hit By The Crypto Scandal
In a recent court ruling, the defendant was sentenced to nearly four years in jail and ordered to compensate the victims. Su will pay about $26.8 million in restitution after pleading guilty to one charge last year.
According to court documents, the defendant defrauded 174 Americans and laundered money through shell companies. The scam began when overseas co-conspirators contacted victims via unsolicited social media messages and built trust over time.
In the typical pig butchering model, they created fake websites and promoted digital asset investment schemes, urging victims to send funds to the platforms. These websites often model existing firms to defraud victims.
Furthermore, the defendants told victims of gains from their investments, even though none existed. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) explained that funds were converted to Tether before being transferred to a crypto wallet controlled in Cambodia.
“More than $36.9 million in victim funds were transferred from U.S. bank accounts controlled by the co-conspirators to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas. Su and other co-conspirators directed Deltec Bank to convert victim funds to the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and to transfer the converted funds to a digital asset wallet controlled in Cambodia.”
So far, eight conspirators have pleaded guilty as authorities seek to recover the victim’s funds. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division added that bad actors have devised ways to weaponize the internet. On their part, authorities should evolve and crack down on criminal networks involved in social media schemes.
Last year, blockchain security experts called for broader education to prevent pig-butchering schemes. However, crypto scams surged to over $17 billion, with bad actors deploying advanced techniques. Stablecoins also came under scrutiny in the same period, as scammers utilized these assets to facilitate transactions.
However, analysts suggest new laws could reduce the use of stablecoins and centralized exchanges. A recent Chainalysis report shows a decline in the use of centralized exchanges for money laundering, driven by strict KYC requirements.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/us-sentences-chinese-national-in-major-36m-crypto-money-laundering-case/
