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First there was Tinder, then crypto, then the Bahamas and a laundromat. Five men have pleaded guilty to a massive scheme to launder nearly $37 million stolen from American citizens in a cryptocurrency scam organized through hubs in Cambodia. The U.S. Department of Justice said the defendants were part of an international criminal organization linked to a widespread fraud scheme called pig butchering. According to the case, the criminals convinced U.S. citizens to invest in fake crypto projects by contacting them through phone calls, text messages, dating apps, and other digital channels. The scammers showed victims fake screenshots that supposedly showed rising returns on their investments, while in reality the money was being withdrawn from their accounts and transferred overseas, where it was laundered in multiple layers through shell companies, international banks, and crypto wallets. Two of the defendants, Joseph Wong, 33, of Alhambra, California, and Yicheng Zhang, 39, of China, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Each faces up to 20 years in prison. Zhang has been in custody since May 2024. The other three, Jose Somarriba, 55, of Los Angeles, Shengsheng He, 39, of La Puente, California, and Jingliang Su, 44, of China and Turkey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in unregistered money laundering. They could face up to five years in prison. Su was arrested in November 2024. Shengsheng He entered into the plea agreement on March 3, 2025, and Somarriba entered into the plea agreement on March 14, 2025. The three U.S. citizens, Wong, Somarriba, and He, remain free on bail. The investigation found that the scheme was based in Sihanoukville, a Cambodian coastal city that is home to numerous cyber fraud hubs run by criminals from China. Victims in the United States wired money believing they were making real investments, and the criminals sent the funds to an account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas. This account was controlled by a shell company, Axis Digital. He, Somarriba, and Su then converted the incoming funds into the USDT stablecoin and transferred the cryptocurrency to wallets controlled by operators in Cambodia. There, the funds went to the leaders of the fraudulent centers. The court noted that He repeatedly flew between the United States and the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, coordinating the transfer of stolen funds. Wong, who controlled the money laundering network in Los Angeles, played a special role in the scheme. He organized the opening of bank accounts and the registration of shell companies to move the funds. Zhang, in turn, owned two bank accounts that were actively used for money laundering. In total, the investigation into this particular pig butchering scheme
Eight people have already pleaded guilty. Among them are Daren Lee, who was arrested in April 2024, and Lu Zhang, who pleaded guilty in November 2024. The criminal case is part of a broader operation by the Justice Department to stop crypto fraud, which also involves U.S. authorities and the Dominican Republic police.
The announcement of the five people’s guilty pleas comes a month after the U.S. Treasury Department designated the Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group as a “special risk for money laundering.” It was proposed to ban it from the U.S. financial system. According to authorities, the Huione platform played a key role in providing the infrastructure for such schemes, acting as an intermediary or guarantor for transactions. Billions of dollars in cyber fraud passed through it. According to official information, Huione’s top management has ties to the Cambodian government.
According to the UN, at least 100,000 people in Cambodia were involved in such schemes. Many of them became victims of human trafficking or were deceived, forced to work in fraudulent centers under threats and blackmail.
Eight people have already pleaded guilty. Among them are Daren Lee, who was arrested in April 2024, and Lu Zhang, who pleaded guilty in November 2024. The criminal case is part of a broader operation by the Justice Department to stop crypto fraud, which also involves U.S. authorities and the Dominican Republic police.
The announcement of the five people’s guilty pleas comes a month after the U.S. Treasury Department designated the Cambodian conglomerate Huione Group as a “special risk for money laundering.” It was proposed to ban it from the U.S. financial system. According to authorities, the Huione platform played a key role in providing the infrastructure for such schemes, acting as an intermediary or guarantor for transactions. Billions of dollars in cyber fraud passed through it. According to official information, Huione’s top management has ties to the Cambodian government.
According to the UN, at least 100,000 people in Cambodia were involved in such schemes. Many of them became victims of human trafficking or were deceived, forced to work in fraudulent centers under threats and blackmail.