A Chinese national has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for laundering millions of dollars stolen from American investors through fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms operated out of Cambodia.
Jingliang Su received a 46-month prison sentence on Tuesday and was ordered to pay $26.8 million in restitution after pleading guilty to his role in a $36.9 million fraud scheme that targeted 174 victims across the United States.
According to prosecutors, scammers initially contacted victims through unsolicited messages and phone calls, gradually gaining their trust before directing them to fake websites designed to resemble legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms. Once victims transferred their funds, the platforms falsely showed profits while the money was actually stolen.
“This defendant and his co-conspirators scammed 174 Americans out of their hard-earned money,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva. “In the digital age, criminals have found new ways to weaponize the internet for fraud.”
Court records describe a complex international money-laundering network. Stolen funds were first routed through U.S. shell companies before being transferred to a bank account in the Bahamas. From there, Su converted the money into $36.9 million worth of Tether stablecoin.
The cryptocurrency was then moved to digital wallets controlled from Cambodia, where it was used to finance scam centers operating throughout Southeast Asia.
Eight co-conspirators have pleaded guilty in the case. Jose Somarriba was sentenced to 36 months in prison, while ShengSheng He received a 51-month sentence for running unlicensed money-transmitting businesses.
“New investment opportunities may sound intriguing, but they often attract criminals who exploit unsuspecting victims,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. “In this case, tens of millions of dollars were stolen and laundered.”
The investigation involved several federal agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security, with assistance from international partners in the Dominican Republic.
Since 2020, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division has secured convictions against more than 180 cybercriminals, resulting in the recovery and return of over $350 million to fraud victims.
