TechFlow News, January 28: According to a report by The Block, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California sentenced 45-year-old Chinese national Jingliang Su to nearly four years in federal prison on Tuesday for laundering nearly $37 million in cryptocurrency fraud proceeds, and ordered him to pay over $26 million in restitution.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Su was a member of a global criminal network that targeted U.S. victims via text messages, phone calls, and online dating platforms to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes. The criminal group used fake websites disguised as legitimate trading platforms to deceive victims into believing their investments were growing, while in reality, their funds were stolen.
Prosecutors stated that more than $36.9 million was ultimately transferred into accounts at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas and then converted into Tether (USDT). “Subsequently, co-conspirators in Cambodia transferred the USDT to leaders of scam operations in that region.” The U.S. government has confirmed that this case involved 174 U.S. victims.
Su previously pleaded guilty in June this year to one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. To date, eight individuals have pleaded guilty in this case, including 39-year-old Shengsheng He of La Puente, California, who received a sentence of over four years in prison.
