Daren Li, Laundering Millions in Illicit Proceeds, California 2025

Grimy Times has learned that a foreign national has pleaded guilty to laundering millions of dollars in illicit proceeds from cryptocurrency investment scams. Daren Li, 41, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, and a resident of China, Cambodia, and the United Arab Emirates, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Li’s scheme involved laundering funds obtained from victims through cryptocurrency scams and related fraud. The funds were converted to virtual currency, specifically Tether (USDT), and distributed to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by Li and his co-conspirators.

Li admitted that at least $73.6 million in victim funds were directly deposited into bank accounts associated with him and his co-conspirators, including at least $59.8 million deposited from U.S. shell companies that laundered victim proceeds.

‘Financial criminals and the money launderers who enable them wreak untold harm, ruining lives in the process,’ said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. ‘Investors should be diligent and on guard against anyone offering quick riches via new, exotic investments. A healthy dose of skepticism could prevent financial ruin down the road.’

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri stated, ‘Daren Li and his co-conspirators laundered over $73 million from the victims of cryptocurrency investment scams, using a web of shell companies and international bank accounts.’

The investigation demonstrates the importance of domestic and international partnerships in combating transnational crime. Li was arrested on April 12 at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and subsequently transported to Los Angeles. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 3, 2025, at which time Li will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

USSS’s Global Investigative Operations Center is investigating the case, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations’ El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center, the Dominican Republic National Drug Directorate Sensitive Investigative Unit and Fugitive Task Force, U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs.

Assistant United States Attorneys Maxwell Coll of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crime Section and Nisha Chandran of the Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force along with Justice Department Trial Attorney Stefanie Schwartz of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team are prosecuting this case.

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