Chinese National Admits to Laundering $73 Million from Crypto Scam

Chinese and St. Kitts and Nevis citizen Darren Lee pleaded guilty to laundering over $73 million obtained from victims of investment fraud, including a scheme known as “pig butchering.”

Together with accomplices, he used legal entities and bank accounts to conceal the origin of the funds. The perpetrators also converted them into digital assets, primarily USDT, and distributed them across wallets.

On April 12, Lee was arrested at Atlanta International Airport and subsequently sent to California. The trial is scheduled for March 3, 2025. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

“Pig butchering” involves persuading a victim to purchase supposedly promising digital assets. The perpetrator gains trust through social engineering and steals the investor’s funds.

According to Chainalysis analysts, this method is gaining popularity among fraudsters and has already surpassed traditional Ponzi schemes.

Earlier, crypto analyst ZachXBT estimated that over the past year, losses from scams amounted to between $100 million and $150 million among users of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase alone.