A dual Chinese and St. Kitts and Nevis national has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in absentia for orchestrating a massive international cryptocurrency investment scam, commonly known as a “pig butchering” or romance baiting scheme, that defrauded victims of more than $73 million.
The convicted scammer, 42-year-old Daren Li, played a key role in a global fraud operation that relied on messaging apps, dating platforms, and social media to gain victims’ trust before luring them into fake cryptocurrency investments. Instead of generating profits, the schemes drained victims’ crypto wallets, causing devastating financial losses.
Li pleaded guilty in November 2024 to conspiracy to launder money derived from pig butchering scams run out of Cambodia. He was arrested in April 2024 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport but fled in December 2025 after cutting off his ankle monitor, becoming a fugitive before sentencing in a California federal court.
Despite his absence, the court imposed a 20-year prison sentence along with three years of supervised release. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Li and his co-conspirators laundered more than $73 million stolen from American victims through a complex web of shell companies and financial accounts.
Court documents show the criminal network used roughly 74 shell companies to move stolen funds into U.S. bank accounts before transferring the money to domestic and international accounts and cryptocurrency platforms to hide its origins. Investigators said Li directed accomplices to send millions to Deltec Bank, where the funds were converted into cryptocurrencies, including Tether. Authorities also uncovered more than $341 million in cryptocurrency stored in one wallet used by the laundering operation.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said the sentence reflects the seriousness of Li’s crimes, noting that the scheme caused widespread harm to victims across the United States. Li is the first defendant directly involved in receiving victim funds to be sentenced among eight co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty.
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In a related development, federal prosecutors charged four more suspects in December in connection with another pig butchering operation tied to over $80 million in losses. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported in its 2024 Internet Crime Report that investment scams stole more than $6.5 billion from nearly 48,000 victims, highlighting the growing scale of crypto-related fraud worldwide.
