Jingliang Su, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for his role laundering roughly $36.9 million stolen in a crypto-focused fraud that targeted U.S. victims. Su pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal money transmitting business and was ordered to pay more than $26.8 million in restitution. Prosecutors say the scheme duped 174 Americans into believing they were investing in legitimate opportunities. Victims were directed to transfer funds into accounts controlled by Su and his co-conspirators. Instead of investing the money, the defendants laundered it through shell companies and international bank accounts and ultimately converted large sums into the dollar-backed stablecoin USDT (Tether) to move and obscure the proceeds. “This defendant and his co-conspirators scammed 174 Americans out of their hard‑earned money,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. He noted the broader trend of criminals weaponizing the internet to commit fraud, using phones, social media and fake websites, then funneling stolen funds through crypto and cross‑border wires. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California added that seemingly attractive investment opportunities can hide large-scale criminal operations that both steal and launder victims’ funds. The case is part of a wider crackdown: one of Su’s co-conspirators, California resident Shengsheng He, was sentenced to 51 months in September, and eight defendants in the ring have pleaded guilty so far. Despite these convictions, restitution ordered to victims ($26.8 million) is smaller than the total laundered amount, underscoring the difficulty of fully recovering illicit crypto proceeds. The convictions come amid a surge in crypto-related losses. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates crypto-scam losses topped $17 billion last year, with the rise of artificial intelligence driving a roughly 1,400% increase in impersonation scams. Authorities say the investigation reflects evolving law-enforcement efforts to trace and disrupt crypto-enabled money laundering and to hold international actors accountable. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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