30s Summary
Daren Li, a dual citizen of China, has admitted to laundering $73 million obtained through various cryptocurrency scams. Li instructed associates to establish shell companies in the US to obscure the origins of the illicit funds. The money was then converted into Tether and transferred to wallets controlled by Li and his accomplices. US authorities arrested Li in April, and his sentencing hearing is set for March 3, 2025. He may face 20 years in jail, three years of supervised release, and a hefty fine, in addition to repaying his victims between $4.5 million and $73 million.
Full Article
A chap from China who has dual citizenship, named Daren Li, just admitted in court that he played a part in washing $73 million that had been swiped through a bunch of crypto scams.
Li, 41, says he’s guilty of making plans to clean the scammed money. It’s said he managed to pull in millions by pushing crypto scams, such as a pig butchering caper (seriously), between August last year and April 12 this year. He said his guilty bit in a California court on November 11.
Li confessed he told others to set up shell company bank accounts in the US to hide where the money really came from. After the victims had put millions into these accounts, the cash was finally flipped into Tether (a type of crypto) and sent out to wallets controlled by Li and his partners in crime.
One of these wallets had racked up over $341 million in digital bling, going by what the court papers say. Nicole M. Argentieri, who is the Head of the Justice Department’s Crime Division, put out a statement on November 12 saying that Li had committed his crimes outside the US, using a multitude of shell companies and international bank accounts.
Li fessed up that $73.6 million of the stolen cash got put into bank accounts linked to this plot and at least $59.8 million was moved there from US shell companies, which helped clean the ill-gotten gains.
Li was nabbed at the Atlanta airport in Georgia on April 12. One of his alleged partners in crime, Yicheng Zhang, was cuffed in Los Angeles on May 16.
At first, Li was accused of making plans to wash money and six counts of international money laundering. These charges could have got him 20 years behind bars each, meaning a whopping 140 years of jail time. But after admitting his guilt, the judge has arranged a sentencing hearing for him on March 3, 2025.
Right now, he could be facing up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of either $500,000 or twice the amount gained from his crimes–whichever is higher. The court has mentioned he might also have to pay back his victims between $4.5 million and $73 million.