Chinese National Pleads to Laundering $73 Million Through Cryptocurrency
Date: 2024-11-13 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: IN WORLD
US Attorney General Nicole Argentieri said that Li and his accomplices used a network of shell companies to hide their illicit funds. Communication with the accomplices was conducted through encrypted channels, making it difficult to track their activities.
To hide the source of the money, Li instructed his associates to open accounts in US banks in the names of shell companies. These accounts were used to transfer funds received from defrauded victims. The money was then converted into stablecoins such as USDT and distributed to cryptocurrency wallets associated with Li and his accomplices.
Although Li was outside the US, law enforcement was able to secure his arrest. On April 12, he was detained at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Lee now faces sentencing on March 3, 2025. The maximum possible sentence he could face is 20 years in prison.
Lee's case is not the only one in a series of high-profile crypto fraud cases. In October, an Indiana man admitted to stealing more than $37 million in cryptocurrency from 600 people, and the organizer of the Forcount crypto scheme, which defrauded Spanish-speaking investors of $8.4 million, also previously pleaded guilty.
