International Cryptocurrency Scam Ring Launders $37 Million in U.S. Victim Funds Five men from China, the U.S., and Turkey have pleaded guilty to laundering nearly $37 million stolen from U.S. victims in a global cryptocurrency investment scam operation based in Cambodia. The scheme, which targeted individuals through unsolicited social media messages, phone calls, and online dating platforms, tricked victims into investing in fraudulent digital assets by falsely claiming their funds were growing in value. The stolen money—totaling $36.9 million—was funneled from U.S. bank accounts to a Deltec Bank account in the Bahamas under the name Axis Digital Limited. The defendants, including Joseph Wong (Alhambra, CA), Yicheng Zhang (China), Jose Somarriba (Los Angeles), Shengsheng He (La Puente, CA), and Jingliang Su (China/Turkey), used shell companies, U.S. bank accounts, and cryptocurrency wallets to launder the funds. Wong led a Los Angeles-based laundering network, while Zhang managed additional U.S. accounts. Somarriba and He established Axis Digital and the Deltec Bank account, with Su later joining to handle cryptocurrency conversions. The stolen funds were converted into Tether (USDT) and transferred to a digital wallet in Cambodia, where accomplices distributed them to regional scam operators. Zhang has been in custody since May 2024, and Su was arrested in November 2024. Both, along with Wong, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy, facing up to 20 years in prison. Zhang, Somarriba, and Su also admitted to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money services business, carrying a maximum five-year sentence. Eight co-conspirators have now pleaded guilty, including Daren Li and Yicheng Zhang, arrested in April 2024 for allegedly laundering at least $73 million in similar "pig butchering" scams—fraud tactics that combine romance baiting and fake investment schemes. In December 2024, the U.S. Justice Department charged four more suspects in an $80 million pig butchering operation. The FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Report highlighted a surge in investment scams, with losses exceeding $6.5 billion in 2023—up from $4.57 billion the previous year.