Jingliang Su has been sentenced to 46 months for laundering $36.9M from a crypto scam targeting U.S. victims through a pig-butchering scheme. The funds were converted to USDT and funneled through an international network. This scam highlights the rising trend of crypto-related fraud, which involved $17 billion in losses last year, prompting U.S. officials to warn against investment offers in crypto.

Bearish

Predictions Markets

See what traders are focused on

View analytics →

Chinese national jailed for laundering $36.9M from a large crypto scam targeting U.S. victims.
Funds were converted to USDT and sent overseas through an international fraud network.

A U.S. Federal court has sentenced Jingliang Su, a Chinese national, to 46 months in prison for laundering $36.9 million, which is connected to a crypto scam that targeted Americans. This scam is called the Pig butchering scam, which is a well-known scam in the U.S. and one of the fastest growing forms of fraud activities online.

How this scam worked

According to the U.S. prosecutors the scams have defrauded at least 174 victims across the country. The fraud followed a similar pattern by contacting the victims through social media, calls, or dating apps. Then they used to build personal relations and trust with the victims. Later, the scammers encourage the victims to invest in the fake “high-yield” crypto trading platforms. The invested funds will be secretly drained by the scammers.

Involvement of Jingliang Su

Authorities said that Jingliang Su helped to move the stolen money through an international laundering network. The victims’ money was collected into a single bank account in the Bahamas. Then the money was converted to USDT and sent to the crypto wallet in Cambodia. From there, the funds were distributed to other scam operations.

Jingliang Su pleaded guilty in June 2025 to operating an illegal money transmitting business. He was sentenced to 46 months in U.S. federal prison and over $26 million in restitution to the victim. The case not only involves Su, 8 defendants who have pleaded guilty, and two co-defendants, Jose Somarriba (sentenced to 36 months) and ShengSheng He (sentenced to 51 months), are also involved.

U.S. officials say pig butchering scams are increasing and damaging the crypto platforms. As per the Chainalysis reports, pig butchering scams remain one of the top crime categories in 2025, and the scams involved $17 billion last year. This case and data show that crypto scams use stablecoins to move money quickly across borders. U.S. officials warn the public to be aware of the investment offers that involve crypto.

Highlighted Crypto News:

Bullish Pulse Strengthens for Zcash (ZEC): Momentum Shift or Just Another Short-Lived Pop?

Read the article at TheNewsCrypto