St Kitts and Nevis citizen pleads guilty in crypto scam
Daren Li, 41, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis and a resident of China, Cambodia, and the UAE, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder millions of dollars in cryptocurrency investment scam proceeds today.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said Daren Li and his co-conspirators laundered over $73 million from cryptocurrency investment scam victims using shell companies and international bank accounts. Li committed this offence outside the U.S., but the Justice Department may find him.Today’s plea shows our commitment to cooperating with domestic and foreign partners to take cryptocurrency investment fraudsters who victimise U.S. victims accountable, wherever they are.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on April 12, Li was detained and taken to the Central District of California.
Li acknowledged to conspiring to launder cryptocurrency scam and fraud proceeds, according to court filings. He used encrypted texting to coordinate the scheme. To hide the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the fraudulently obtained victim funds, Li would instruct co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts for shell companies and monitor interstate and international wire transfers. Li and his co-conspirators would receive victim funds in financial accounts they controlled, convert them to Tether (USDT), and distribute it to cryptocurrency wallets they controlled.
Li stated that he and his co-conspirators received at least $73.6 million in victim monies, including $59.8 million from U.S. shell businesses that laundered victim proceeds.
Financial fraudsters and money launderers “wreak untold harm, ruining lives,” said Central District of California US Attorney Martin Estrada. Investors should be wary of new, unusual investments that promise instant profits. The right amount of scepticism can prevent financial ruin.”
“This investigation shows how domestic and international partnerships are vital to combating transnational crime,” said USSS Acting Assistant Director of Investigations Michael Ball.
Li will be sentenced March 3, 2025. Li might serve 20 years in prison. After reviewing the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutes, a federal district court judge will sentence.
Case is under investigation by USSS Global Investigative Operations Centre. HSI’s El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, CBP’s National Targeting Centre, the Dominican Republic National Drug Directorate Sensitive Investigative Unit and Fugitive Task Force, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, and Justice Department Office of International Affairs assisted.
Trial Attorney Stefanie Schwartz of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maxwell Coll and Nisha Chandran for the Central District of California are prosecuting.
