- Fugitive Daren Li sentenced to 20 years in absentia for a $73 million international crypto investment scam.
- The operation involved “pig butchering” tactics from scam centers in Cambodia, laundering billions in crypto.
- Social engineering scams accounted for nearly 41% of all crypto security incidents in 2025.
A federal judge in California has sentenced dual national Daren Li to 20 years in prison in absentia for laundering proceeds from a $73 million international crypto conspiracy. This harsh judgment follows Li’s guilty plea and subsequent escape after removing an electronic monitoring device in December. The elaborate scam operated from call centers in Cambodia, which has evolved into a major hub for such fraudulent activities.
According to a TRM Labs report, these “pig butchering” compounds in Cambodia generate over $30 million daily.
A separate TRM report revealed over $96 billion in crypto has flowed to Cambodia-linked companies since 2021, heavily used for money laundering. Consequently, Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva stated the Justice Department is coordinating with global law enforcement to return Li to the U.S.
Li and his co-conspirators contacted victims through unsolicited social media interactions and online dating services. Their methods involved building trust through professional or romantic relationships before directing victims to spoofed crypto investment platforms.
In other instances, the group posed as tech support, convincing victims to send funds to fix fictitious computer viruses.
“As part of an international cryptocurrency investment scam, Daren Li and his co-conspirators laundered over $73 million dollars stolen from American victims,” said Duva.
These social engineering tactics, including fake investment offers and impersonation, were the leading threat to crypto users in 2025. They accounted for losses in the billions of dollars and represented nearly 41% of all crypto security incidents that year.
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