US Authorities Arrest Two in $73 Million Crypto Fraud Case

US law enforcement arrested two Chinese nationals, Daren Li and Yichen Zhang, on charges of laundering at least $73 million linked to cryptocurrency fraud.

“Crypto investment fraud exploits the borderless nature of virtual currency and online communications to deceive victims. […] These arrests reflect the Justice Department’s ongoing commitment to dismantling the entire cybercrime ecosystem and stopping fraud across all financial markets,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

According to court documents, Li, Zhang, and other accomplices operated an international syndicate laundering funds obtained through cryptocurrency investment fraud.

Investigators allege that victims were deceived into transferring millions of dollars to US bank accounts opened under the names of numerous shell companies.

These funds were then purportedly moved to other domestic and international accounts of financial organizations and cryptocurrency platform wallets, and converted into the stablecoin USDT.

One of the addresses used in the scheme received assets totaling more than $341 million.

Li and Zhang face up to 140 years in prison.

In May, US authorities charged top executives of the crypto lending platform Cred with conspiracy to commit money laundering and fraud amounting to $783 million.

On April 29, a suspect was arrested in the Netherlands in connection with the ZKasino blockchain casino scam.