Details of the Crypto Laundering Operation

The man, Jingliang Su, a Chinese national, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner. Su is also ordered to pay over $26 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Prosecutors revealed that Su was part of an international crime network that manipulated victims in the U.S. into transferring funds to accounts controlled by the schemers.

The illicit funds were laundered through U.S. shell companies, digital asset wallets, and global bank accounts. Co-conspirators targeted individuals through texts, calls, and online dating platforms, promoting counterfeit crypto investments using fake websites resembling legitimate trading platforms.

How the Scam Unfolded

Victims were misled into believing their investments were growing, while in reality, their money was being siphoned. More than $36.9 million was channeled to a bank account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas and subsequently converted to Tether (USDT).

Prosecutors stated, “From there, co-conspirators in Cambodia transferred the USDT to leaders of scam centers across the region.” The government identified 174 victims in the U.S. alone.

Legal Proceedings and Outcomes

In June, Su pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an illegal transmitting business. Eight individuals have pleaded guilty in connection to the scam, including Shengsheng He, who received a sentence of over four years in prison.

First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli commented, “New investment opportunities may sound promising, but they attract criminals who, in this case, laundered tens of millions of dollars.” This case serves as a stark reminder of the risks associated with digital-asset investments.

The Block, an independent media outlet, reports on such cases to deliver timely and impactful news about the crypto industry.

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As the trial enters into its second week, David Patton, the lawyer representing Storm, has challenged the witness’ claims that her stolen cryptocurrency was laundered via Tornado Cash. The reports of this development have been covered by DL News and CoinDesk.

The witness, Hanfeng Ling, had previously testified that she fell prey to a pig butchering scam in 2021. She also asserted that a “crypto recovery service” she utilized indicated that some of the stolen funds had been funneled through Tornado Cash. However, Storm’s defense team expressed their inability to trace Ling’s funds back to Tornado Cash over the weekend.

Taylor Monahan, an Ethereum security expert, took to social media over the weekend to state that scammers do not typically use Tornado Cash. She made a series of posts detailing her belief that Ling’s funds were not laundered via Tornado Cash.

Storm’s trial, which started last week in a Manhattan federal court, sees him facing charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions violations connected to his operation of Tornado Cash. If found guilty on all charges, Storm could be looking at a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison. He has entered a plea of not guilty.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media platform providing news, research, and data. Foresight Ventures, a majority investor in The Block as of November 2023, also invests in other crypto-related enterprises. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. Regardless, The Block continues to deliver objective, high-impact, and timely information about the crypto industry. The details of our financial disclosures can be found here.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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According to court documents, the victim, a Gemini creditor, was fooled into believing that their account had been compromised. The scammers, posing as Google and Gemini support, persuaded the victim to reset their 2-factor authentication and transfer their Gemini funds to a compromised wallet. In the course of this scam, the victim’s Bitcoin private key was also leaked through screen sharing via AnyDesk.

In a coordinated effort, Chetal accessed the victim’s Gmail and iCloud accounts, while another hacker, Malone Lam, searched for personal information. The third accomplice, Jeandiel Serrano, posed as a customer service representative. By the early hours of August 19, 2024, the hackers had successfully drained the victim’s wallet.

However, their triumph was short-lived. During the live stream, Chetal inadvertently leaked his name and was referred to as Veer by his accomplices. This, along with a series of other mistakes, led to their downfall and eventual arrest.

After the initial heist, the stolen Bitcoin was traced to more than 15 different exchanges, where it was swapped multiple times between Litecoin (LTC), Ether (ETH), Monero (XMR), and Bitcoin. Chetal’s lavish spending on luxury goods also helped trace the stolen wealth back to him.

In an unexpected twist, Chetal agreed to cooperate with authorities and testify against his co-conspirators. However, while out on bail, he was implicated in another social engineering scam involving a $2 million theft. This led to his re-arrest and the denial of his request for re-release on bond.

The Veer Chetal case serves as a stark reminder of the potential risks associated with cryptocurrency and highlights the need for vigilant cyber security practices.

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Despite a direct call to action from former US President Donald Trump, the cryptocurrency-related bills he supported failed to progress through a key procedural stage in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Trump had encouraged Republican representatives to pass the legislation concerning the regulation of payment stablecoins as part of a broader initiative to advance cryptocurrency legislation ahead of the August recess.

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump urged Republicans to support the GENIUS Act, which seeks to regulate payment stablecoins in the US. This bill was one of three others aimed at addressing market structure and central bank digital currencies that Republican leaders were promoting as part of their “crypto week” initiative.

In another development, Abacus Market, the largest Bitcoin-enabled Western darknet marketplace, abruptly went offline, sparking suspicions of an exit scam. The entire infrastructural setup, including its clearnet mirror, is now inaccessible, according to a report by TRM Labs. The sudden disappearance led TRM to speculate that the “operators might have staged an exit scam, ceasing operations and absconding with users’ funds.”

Ripple, meanwhile, confirmed its plan to apply for a MiCA license, aimed at expanding its cryptocurrency and stablecoin operations across the European Economic Area. A representative from Ripple stated that the company acknowledges the “significant opportunity in the European market” and intends to become “MiCA-compliant”.

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In August 2024, a single victim’s account lost approximately 4,100 BTC worth $243 million in an overnight heist. The culprits were three gamers-turned-hackers, who employed sophisticated social engineering tactics to commit the theft. The youngest among them, 19-year-old Veer Chetal, became notorious for his audacious acts.

The trio, including Chetal, Malone Lam, and Jeandiel Serrano, orchestrated a well-planned attack. They deceived the victim with fake calls from Google and Gemini support teams, convinced the victim to change their 2-factor authentication (2FA), and then transferred the funds to a compromised wallet. Moreover, they tricked the victim into sharing their screen via AnyDesk, revealing their Bitcoin private key.

Despite executing their plan successfully, their sloppy mistakes led to their downfall. Crypto investigator ZachXBT, who had been following the case closely, discovered a recording of the hackers’ live reactions as they received the stolen Bitcoin. Chetal further incriminated himself by accidentally leaking his name during the livestream and purchasing luxury items with the stolen funds.

Following the investigation, all three culprits were arrested. However, Chetal’s saga didn’t end there. After agreeing to cooperate with the authorities and pleading guilty, he was involved in yet another scam while out on bail, stealing an additional $2 million.

This case serves as a stark reminder of the need for vigilance in the digital age, especially as young, tech-savvy individuals are drawn into the world of high-stakes digital crime. Awareness, open conversations, and firm boundaries around financial access are crucial to curb such illicit activities.

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This groundbreaking revelation is the culmination of an intensive 18-month probe into the world of cryptocurrency by a consortium of Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Initiated in December 2023, the investigation was led by the Queensland Joint Organized Crime Taskforce (QJOCTF) and involved tracing the suspicious money flow of a ring member, leading to the unearthing of a complex and large-scale money laundering operation.

According to the authorities, the perpetrators laundered a total of $123 million using a convoluted system of front businesses and cryptocurrencies. This illicit money was then converted into cryptocurrencies.

Money laundering is a technique used by criminals to make illegally-acquired money appear legitimate. The highly structured process often involves three stages: placement (introducing the illegal money into the financial system), layering (obscuring the source of the money through a series of complicated transactions), and integration (redistributing the now “clean” money back to the criminals). This process is frequently used to purchase properties, luxury goods, and in this case, cryptocurrencies.

The Australian scam ring involved a multi-step scheme to evade Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures. The key player was a security firm that transported illicit funds to its front businesses. These funds were then transferred to a car dealership, which served as the perfect front for money laundering due to its regular large cash transactions. Upon receipt, the dealership would mix the illegal funds with legitimate income during bank deposits, further obscuring their origin. These funds were then forwarded to a sales promotion company, which converted part of the proceeds into cryptocurrencies.

Following the revelation of this scheme, authorities swiftly acted to seize $170,000 worth of crypto assets, $30,000 cash, and business documents. Seventeen properties, cars, and funds in multiple bank accounts were also frozen, with the total value of the frozen assets amounting to around $21 million. The investigation continues with the potential for more individuals to be charged.

Despite occasional associations with illegal activities, the use of cryptocurrencies in criminal activities accounts for only a small fraction of total crypto volume. Cryptocurrency transactions are indeed anonymous, but each transaction leaves a permanent, traceable record on the public ledger, providing law enforcement agencies with a trail to follow. As this case demonstrates, the very features that may attract criminals can also lead to their downfall.

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The accusation alleges that fraudsters, presenting themselves as the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, deceived a benefactor into donating a total of $250,300 in cryptocurrency. The scammers then laundered the proceeds through various wallets. With the help of onchain analysis and the issuers of the stablecoin, Tether, the FBI was able to track and confiscate $40,353 of the funds. The complaint now seeks to return these funds to the victim through civil forfeiture.

The complaint details that on December 24, 2024, a fraudster in Nigeria, posing as Trump-Vance Inaugural Co-Chair Steve Witkoff, sent emails to victims from a deceptive email address (@t47lnaugural.com), swapping the “i” in the legitimate email address for a lowercase “l,” directing them to send funds to a crypto wallet ending in 58c52. A victim, believing the email to be authentic, sent $250,300 worth of USDT on Ethereum two days later.

“All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient. It can be extremely difficult for law enforcement to recoup lost funds due to the extremely complex nature of the blockchain,” Pirro said. “Nevertheless, my office and our law enforcement partners stand ready to go toe-to-toe with criminals and make victims whole.”

“Impersonation scams take many forms and cost Americans billions in losses each year,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the FBI Washington Field Office, which is investigating the case. “To avoid becoming a victim, carefully review email addresses, website URLs, and spelling in any messages you receive. Scammers often use subtle differences to deceive you and gain your trust. Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know personally or have only interacted with online or over the phone.”

The DOJ encourages anyone who believes they’ve been a victim of cybercrime — such as business email compromise, cryptocurrency, romance, investment, or “pig butchering” scams — to report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Last month, the DOJ acknowledged Tether and crypto exchange Coinbase for assisting the U.S. Secret Service in seizing about $225 million in cryptocurrency tied to separate alleged schemes dating back to 2023 — the largest crypto seizure in the agency’s history.

Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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According to a Wednesday report by Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, the widow had been engaged in an online relationship with a man from Belgium for two years before discovering his true fraudulent nature. The elderly woman was completely oblivious to his fraudulent activities until the authorities showed up at her doorstep.

The unsuspecting victim was convinced by the scammer, whom she had met on a dating application, to invest in Bitcoin by showing her counterfeit documents stating that he had earned 13,000 Australian dollars ($8,464) in just a week. The fraudster guided her through her initial transaction, which required her to withdraw money from a standard ATM and then deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM. Over the course of 18 months, she ended up depleting her life savings.

The woman admitted to carrying around 20,000 Australian dollars ($13,023) in cash at one time. The transactions were time-consuming and took up to half a day’s work, which eventually led her to become quite proficient in using the Bitcoin ATM.

Brendan Thomas, CEO of AUSTRAC, highlighted another case of a woman in her 70s who lost over $200,000 after falling for a fraudulent trading firm advertisement promising substantial returns on her investment.

The police have arrested one person on charges of property laundering, while four others have been given formal cautions on suspicion of using cryptocurrency to purchase drugs or acting as money mules for criminals. Some of these suspected mules were also victims of scams, who had either unknowingly aided criminals or had deliberately transferred funds in an attempt to retrieve their stolen money.

The recent crackdown by AUSTRAC follows the introduction of new operational rules and transaction limits for cryptocurrency ATM operators on June 3, in an attempt to fight against scams. The agency has identified cryptocurrency as a key focus area for 2025.

Graeme Marshall, AFP Commander, warned scam victims about the dangers of transferring large sums of money into cryptocurrency ATMs under the false pretenses of love or investment opportunities. If anyone guarantees quick profits or creates a sense of urgency, or if the person is a stranger, contact should be severed immediately and the incident should be reported.

ReportCyber, Australia’s online cybercrime reporting portal, received 150 unique reports of scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs between January 2024 and January 2025, with losses exceeding 3.1 million Australian dollars ($2 million).

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides a handy tool for spotting crypto scams, which allows you to search for common scams by company name, scam type, and other keywords. Here are ten significant red flags to consider when picking a crypto investment platform:

1. Unrealistic promises – Beware of platforms offering too-good-to-be-true deals like “Turn 1 Bitcoin in just days!” Real platforms let their services do the talking, not false promises.
2. Fake team members – Verify the authenticity of team members listed on a website. Look for their profiles on LinkedIn or other social media platforms and scrutinize their project history.
3. Inconsistent white paper – Scammers often don’t expect users to read their white paper, which could be generated by AI or plagiarized. Always read the white paper and ensure it has valid use cases, a genuine purpose, and a practical future plan.
4. False endorsements – Don’t trust endorsements on a website without checking their authenticity. Look for official press releases and other proofs of these endorsements.
5. Lack of regulatory information – Centralized platforms must have regulatory approval from the government. You can confirm the platform’s license through government databases.
6. Aggressive sales tactics – If a platform reaches out to you via social media DMs with “exclusive offers” or “limited-time deals,” it’s likely a scam.
7. False location/contact info – Legitimate platforms, even decentralized ones, will provide contact information. If a platform lacks this information, it’s a potential red flag.
8. Fake reviews – Scammers often create fake glowing reviews. Verify the reviews on Reddit and other social media sites.
9. Deceptive airdrops or giveaways – Be cautious of airdrops or giveaways asking for your wallet seed phrase or private key.
10. No fiat offramping – If a platform doesn’t offer fiat offramping, it’s not registered with local financial institutions and could be a scam.

Scammers thrive on impulsive decisions, so be cautious and research thoroughly before investing. By following these tips, you can safeguard your crypto assets and maintain peace of mind.

Note: This article does not offer investment advice or recommendations. Investing and trading always involve risk, and it’s crucial to do your own research before making decisions.

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Chainabuse and Scamwatch are vital tools when dealing with crypto fraud. Chainabuse, an international reporting platform, combats crypto scams on a broad scale. It enables users to report fraudulent crypto activities, ranging from counterfeit Bitcoin wallet addresses to phishing sites. These reports are public, thereby protecting others while alerting major crypto firms in real time. Chainabuse also assists with general safety tips and how to report the incident to law enforcement.

On the other hand, Scamwatch, run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), collects scam reports, disseminates warnings, and helps disrupt fraud. It plays a significant role in determining the most damaging scams affecting Australians. While Scamwatch does not directly act upon individual reports, it provides valuable data for broader investigations. Furthermore, it offers resources like the Little Book of Scams, which provides guidance on identifying, avoiding, and recovering from scams.

Reporting a Bitcoin scam is simpler than it seems, especially with Chainabuse and Scamwatch’s aid. However, before starting the reporting process, ensure you gather as many details as possible about the scam. This information makes it easier for investigators to spot patterns and take the necessary action.

After reporting a scam, you may wonder what happens next. Chainabuse makes your report publicly accessible, helping others identify suspicious wallet addresses or bogus websites. Meanwhile, Scamwatch adds your report to a nationwide database, which the ACCC monitors. While reporting a scam may not guarantee the return of your lost funds, it plays a crucial role in reducing future scams, making the crypto industry more secure.

Other than Scamwatch and Chainabuse, crypto scams can also be reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Reporting to multiple platforms increases visibility and the chances of authorities taking action.

While it’s crucial to report scams, it’s equally important to stay vigilant and protect yourself from potential scams. Always verify recipient addresses before sending Bitcoin, avoid clicking suspicious links, and never trust guaranteed returns. Remember, anyone can fall victim to scams. However, by reporting it, you can turn a painful experience into a powerful tool to protect others.

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