Chinese national Jingliang Su was sentenced to 46 months in US prison for laundering $36.9M in a USDT-based pig-butchering scheme that funneled victim funds via Deltec to Cambodia.
Summary
- Prosecutors say Su helped an international network move over $36.9M from US bank accounts into a Deltec Bank account before converting it to USDT and sending it to Cambodia.
- Fraudsters lured 174 US victims through social media, texts and dating apps into fake “high-yield” crypto platforms that showed fabricated profits while draining deposits.
- Su pleaded guilty to conspiracy to run an illegal money-transmitting business, received a 46‑month sentence plus $26M+ restitution, and is one of nine defendants in the case.
A US federal court has sentenced Chinese national Jingliang Su to 46 months in prison for laundering more than $36.9 million tied to a cross‑border crypto investment scam that targeted 174 US victims. Prosecutors say the case marks a fresh escalation in Washington’s campaign against large‑scale “pig butchering” fraud rings leveraging digital assets.
How the laundering scheme worked
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Su was part of an international network that used fake trading platforms, social engineering, and Tether (USDT) transfers to strip victims of their savings. Fraudsters approached targets via unsolicited messages on social media, calls, texts, and online dating apps before steering them into sham “high‑yield” crypto opportunities. The group then directed victims to websites designed to mimic legitimate exchanges, showing fabricated account gains while siphoning away funds in the background.
First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli warned that glossy digital pitches remain a powerful lure: “New investment opportunities may sound intriguing, but they have a dark side: attracting criminals who, in this case, stole then laundered tens of millions of dollars from their victims.”
Authorities estimate more than $36.9 million moved from US bank accounts into a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas before being converted into USDT and transmitted to wallets in Cambodia, where co‑conspirators dispersed the funds to regional scam operations. Su, who has been in federal custody since December 2024, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to one count of conspiracy to operate an illegal money‑transmitting business and was ordered to pay over $26 million in restitution alongside his prison term. Eight co‑defendants have also pleaded guilty, including Jose Somarriba and ShengSheng He, who received 36‑month and 51‑month sentences respectively.
Pig butchering and a broader crackdown
Investigators say the structure mirrors so‑called pig butchering schemes, long‑con frauds in which scammers build emotional rapport before “slaughtering” victims financially. US officials have already charged Cambodian tycoon Chen Zhi in a separate case alleging forced‑labor “pig butchering” operations that stole billions worldwide. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis reports that high‑yield investment programs and pig butchering remained the dominant scam types in 2025, with crypto fraud and theft inflicting more than $17 billion in losses that year.
Market snapshot: BTC, ETH, USDT
The ruling lands against a still‑buoyant market backdrop. Bitcoin trades around $89,127.74 over the last 24 hours, with roughly $38.64 billion in volume. Ethereum changes hands near $3,008.32, up about 2.5% day‑on‑day with more than $29.3 billion in daily trading volume. Tether, the stablecoin used in Su’s laundering route, holds its peg at roughly $1.00, underpinned by a market capitalization above $186 billion.
