Foreign national receives 20-year sentence in the U.S. for $73 million cryptocurrency fraud

A U.S. judge imposed a 20-year sentence on Daren Li for a $73 million cryptocurrency fraud. The scheme utilized Cambodia-based operations to target victims through social media and dating applications.

A U.S. court sentenced Daren Li to 20 years for defrauding Americans of over $73 million. (Tim Mossholder on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

What to know:

• A federal judge in California sentenced Daren Li, who is currently a fugitive, to 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release for executing a $73 million international cryptocurrency investment fraud.
• Prosecutors assert that Li and his accomplices employed social engineering methods, including fabricated romantic and professional relationships as well as fraudulent tech-support schemes, to entice victims into transferring funds to counterfeit crypto platforms.
• This case emphasizes Cambodia’s position as a center for so-called pig-butchering cryptocurrency scams and highlights that social engineering frauds continue to be the predominant threat to cryptocurrency users, leading to billions in losses.

A federal judge in California sentenced a dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis to 20 years in prison in absentia for his involvement in a $73 million international cryptocurrency scam.

Daren Li, who evaded capture after removing an electronic monitoring ankle device in December, was also given three years of supervised release for his participation in an international cryptocurrency investment conspiracy conducted from scam facilities in Cambodia, as stated in a court release on Monday.

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Cambodia has emerged as a center for “pig butchering” cryptocurrency scams, reportedly generating over $30 million daily through forced labor compounds, according to a report by TRM Labs. Another report from TRM revealed that over $96 billion in cryptocurrency has been funneled to companies linked to Cambodia since 2021, heavily utilized for money laundering and fraudulent activities.

“In the context of an international cryptocurrency investment scam, Daren Li and his collaborators laundered over $73 million taken from American victims,” stated Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in the announcement.

Duva noted that the court’s criminal division is collaborating with international law enforcement agencies to locate, apprehend, and return Li to the U.S. to serve his complete sentence.

Li admitted guilt on Nov. 12, 2024, in the Central District of California to conspiring with others to launder funds acquired from victims through cryptocurrency scams and related fraud. According to his plea agreement, Li indicated that he and his associates would directly contact victims through unsolicited social media interactions, phone calls, messages, and online dating platforms. Their methods involved winning over victims’ trust by establishing professional or romantic ties, subsequently misleading them into using counterfeit platforms to seem as if they were investing in cryptocurrency.

In other cases, the group impersonated tech-support personnel and persuaded victims to transfer funds via wire or cryptocurrency trading platforms to allegedly resolve a non-existent virus or other fabricated computer issues.

Social engineering scams, such as fraudulent investment offers and impersonation techniques, were identified as the primary threat to cryptocurrency users, leading to losses amounting to billions of dollars and accounting for nearly 41% of all cryptocurrency security incidents in 2025.