China and St. Kitts and Nevis dual citizen pleads guilty in $73 million 'pig butchering' crypto scam

Daren Li, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in a $73 million “pig butchering” cryptocurrency scheme.

The 41-year-old man admitted that he and his co-conspirators laundered at least $73.6 million in victim funds in crypto investment scams that used a web of shell companies and international bank accounts, according to a Tuesday statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ said that Li instructed co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts on behalf of shell companies and then monitored the conversion of victim funds to USDT, which would subsequently be distributed to crypto wallets controlled by Li and other conspirators.

“Although Li committed this offense from outside the United States, he was not beyond the reach of the Justice Department,” the DOJ said. Li was arrested in April at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and later transported to the Central District of California, according to the statement.

Li faces a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and is set to be sentenced on March 3, 2025.

“Pig butchering” scams typically involve fraudsters building trust with their victims, persuading them to invest significant sums of money before absconding with the funds. Regulators, such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, have raised concerns over such types of scams.