U.S. officials arrested Yicheng Zhang in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in California’s central district later that day. Daren Li, a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested at the Atlanta airport in April.
The U.S. accused the two of being involved in a type of cryptocurrency investment scam known as pig butchering, which has become a global billion-dollar industry.
The defendants are alleged to have instructed co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts in the name of shell companies.
Victims were induced online into depositing money into these accounts – funds that were then laundered through U.S. financial institutions to bank accounts in the Bahamas.
“While fraud in the crypto markets takes on many forms and hides in many far-off places, its perpetrators aren’t beyond the law’s reach,” U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement.
Li and Zhang are both charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and six counts of international money laundering. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count, the Justice Department said.
Source: Cryptocurrency - investing.com
