Two Chinese arrested in $73 million 'pig butchering' cryptocurrency scam

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From Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it has indicted two Chinese nationals in a cryptocurrency scam that laundered at least $73 million from scam victims.

U.S. authorities arrested Zhang Yicheng in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to an indictment unsealed later that day in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Darren Li, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested at the Atlanta airport in April.

The United States accused the two of engaging in a type of cryptocurrency investment fraud known as pig butchering, which has become a global multibillion-dollar industry.

The defendants allegedly instructed their co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts in the name of the shell company.

Victims were induced to deposit money into these accounts online, and the funds were laundered through U.S. financial institutions into bank accounts in the Bahamas.

“Fraud in the virtual currency markets takes many forms and lurks in many far-flung places, but its perpetrators are not beyond the reach of the law,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement. said.

Mr. Li and Mr. Zhang are both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and six counts of international money laundering.

If convicted, the defendants could face up to 20 years in prison on each count, according to the Justice Department.