Fugitive foreigner sentenced in the U.S. to 20 years for $73 million crypto scam

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Fugitive foreigner sentenced in the U.S. to 20 years for $73 million crypto scam A U.S. judge sentenced Daren Li to 20 years for a $73 million crypto fraud. The scam used Cambodia-based compounds to target victims via social media and dating apps. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Sheldon Reback Feb 10, 2026, 10:17 a.m. Make us preferred on Google A U.S. court sentenced a Daren Li to 20 years for defrauding Americans over $73 million. (Tim Mossholder on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk) What to know : A federal judge in California sentenced fugitive Daren Li in absentia to 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release for orchestrating a $73 million international cryptocurrency investment scam. Prosecutors say Li and his co-conspirators used social engineering tactics, including fake romantic and professional relationships and bogus tech-support schemes, to lure victims into sending funds to spoofed crypto platforms. The case highlights Cambodia's role as a hub for so-called pig-butchering crypto scams and underscores that social engineering frauds remain the leading threat to crypto users, accounting for billions of dollars in losses. A federal judge in California sentenced in absentia a dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis to 20 years in prison for his role in a $73 million international crypto scam. Daren Li, who is a fugitive after removing an ankle electronic monitoring device in December, was also handed three years of supervised release for his role in an international cryptocurrency investment conspiracy carried out from scam centers in Cambodia, according to a court statement on Monday . STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . Cambodia has become a hub for "pig butchering" crypto scams, generating over $30 million daily via forced labor compounds, according to a TRM Labs report . A separate TRM report revealed how over $96 billion in crypto has flowed to Cambodia-linked companies since 2021, used heavily for money laundering and fraud. “As part of an international cryptocurrency investment scam, Daren Li and his co-conspirators laundered over $73 million dollars stolen from American victims,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in the statement. Duva said the court’s criminal division is working with global law enforcement officials to find, detain and return Li to the U.S. to serve his entire sentence. Li pleaded guilty on Nov. 12, 2024, in the Central District of California to conspiring with others to launder funds obtained from victims through crypto scams and related fraud. As part of his plea agreement, Li said he and his cronies would contact victims directly through unsolicited social-media interactions, telephone calls and messages and online dating services. Their tactics entailed gaining victims' trust by establishing professional or romantic relationships with them, then luring them into using spoof platforms to appear to invest in crypto. In other instances, the group posed as tech-support staff and induced victims to send funds via wire transfer or cryptocurrency trading platforms to purportedly remediate a non-existent virus or other false computer-related problem. Social engineering scams, such as fake investment offers and impersonation tactics, were the leading threat to crypto users , accounting for losses in the billions of dollars and representing nearly 41% of all crypto security incidents in 2025. crypto scams TRM Labs Cambodia U.S.