A U.S. federal court sentenced Chinese national Jingliang Su to 46 months in prison on Wednesday for laundering over $36.9 million stolen from 174 American investors in a Cambodia-based scam operation.
Su must also pay $26.8 million in restitution. He pleaded guilty in June 2025 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
The scheme targeted U.S. victims through social engineering tactics on social media, phone calls, texts, and dating apps.
Scammers built trust, then pitched fake cryptocurrency investments via bogus websites mimicking legit trading platforms.
Victims wired funds to controlled U.S. bank accounts, believing their “investments” were growing. In reality, scammers stole the money outright.
Scam Mechanics and Laundering Flow
Court documents detail a multi-stage pipeline. Funds first hit U.S. shell companies under co-conspirator control.
These accounts funneled over $36.9 million to a single Deltec Bank account in the Bahamas.
Su and accomplices instructed Deltec to convert fiat to Tether (USDT), a USD-pegged stablecoin favored for laundering due to its speed, low fees, and pseudonymity on blockchains like Tron or Ethereum.
USDT then moved to a Cambodia-controlled wallet. From there, operators dispersed it to scam center leaders across Southeast Asia.
This layered approach fiat to bank, bank to stablecoin, stablecoin to regional hubs evaded traditional AML checks. Shell firms obscured ownership, while cross-border crypto transfers dodged U.S. oversight.
Eight co-conspirators have pleaded guilty, including Jose Somarriba (51 months) and ShengSheng He (36 months), both for similar unlicensed money transmission charges.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva highlighted the digital shift: “Criminals weaponize the internet via phones, social media, and fake sites, then launder via crypto and wires abroad.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli urged caution: “New investments attract scammers verify before wiring.”
This case exposes scam center tactics, often linked to Justice forced-labor operations in Cambodia.
Victims lost life savings to high-yield promises, with fake dashboards showing phantom gains to extract more funds.
The U.S. Secret Service’s Global Investigative Operations Center led the probe, aided by Homeland Security Investigations’ El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, CBP’s National Targeting Center, State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, Dominican National Police, and U.S. Marshals.
Prosecutors included Trial Attorney Stefanie Schwartz (CCIPS), Tamara Livshiz (Fraud Section), and Central District of California Assistants Maxwell Coll, Alexander Gorin, and Nisha Chandran.
Broader DOJ Crackdown On Scam Centers
The Criminal Division’s efforts target global scam networks blending cybercrime, crypto fraud, money laundering, and trafficking.
Tactics include seizing crime-linked crypto, dismantling fake sites, and disrupting laundering pipelines. Since 2020, CCIPS secured 180+ cyber convictions and returned $350 million to victims.
International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property prosecutors (ICHIPs) coordinate with foreign partners to choke funding.
This sentencing disrupts one node in a vast network, but experts warn scam centers adapt quickly, shifting to AI-driven phishing and DeFi mixers.
Investors should verify platforms via official registries, enable 2FA, and report suspicions to IC3.gov. Blockchain analytics tools like Chainalysis helped trace USDT flows here, proving forensics’ edge against mixers.
As crypto adoption grows, regulators eye stricter stablecoin rules under potential 2026 frameworks. This bust signals U.S. resolve, but vigilance remains key against borderless fraud.
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