LOS ANGELES
A Chinese national was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for laundering more than $36.9 million stolen from U.S. victims in a cryptocurrency investment scam operated from fraud centers in Cambodia, federal prosecutors stated Tuesday.
Jingliang Su, 45, was sentenced to 46 months in prison by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner, who also ordered him to pay $26.9 million in restitution. Su pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
According to court records, Su was part of an international criminal network that targeted U.S. victims through unsolicited contacts on social media, text messages, phone calls, and online dating platforms. The conspirators gained victims’ trust and directed them to fraudulent websites designed to resemble legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms.
Victims were falsely told their digital asset investments were increasing in value, when in reality the money had been stolen.
More than $36.9 million was transferred from U.S. bank accounts controlled by the conspirators to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas.
The funds were then converted to the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and transferred to digital wallets controlled in Cambodia, where the proceeds were distributed to operators of scam centers.
Federal authorities identified 174 U.S. victims.
Eight co-conspirators have pleaded guilty in the case. Two of them, Jose Somarriba and ShengSheng He, were sentenced to 36 months and 51 months in prison, respectively. Su has been in federal custody since December 2024.
“This defendant and his co-conspirators scammed Americans out of their hard-earned money by exploiting new technologies,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli urged the public to exercise caution when evaluating investment opportunities, noting that fraudsters increasingly use cryptocurrency and online platforms to conceal criminal activity.