“Pig Butchering” Bust: 5 Plead Guilty in $37M Crypto Fraud & Money Laundering Scheme from Cambodia

Five men have pleaded guilty to their roles in a sweeping money laundering scheme involving nearly $37 million stolen from U.S. citizens through cryptocurrency fraud orchestrated via cybercrime centers in Cambodia. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the defendants operated as part of an international criminal network engaged in a well-known scam known as “pig butchering.”

Court documents reveal that the perpetrators deceived American victims into investing in fake cryptocurrency ventures, contacting them through phone calls, text messages, dating apps, and other digital channels. The fraudsters presented fabricated screenshots showing fictitious investment growth, while the victims’ funds were secretly withdrawn and transferred overseas. The money then underwent complex laundering processes through shell companies, international banks, and cryptocurrency wallets.

Two of the defendants—Joseph Wong, 33, of Alhambra, California, and Yicheng Zhang, 39, a Chinese national—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, a dual citizen of China and Turkey—admitted guilt to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, a charge that carries a sentence of up to 5 years in prison. Su was arrested in November 2024. He entered his plea on March 3, 2025, and Somarriba followed on March 14. All three U.S. citizens—Wong, Somarriba, and He—were released on bond pending sentencing.

The investigation uncovered that the fraud scheme was based in Sihanoukville, a coastal city in Cambodia notorious for cybercrime hubs controlled by Chinese criminal syndicates. Victims in the U.S., believing they were making legitimate investments, transferred funds to a bank account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas, which was controlled by a shell company named Axis Digital.

Thereafter, He, Somarriba, and Su converted the illicit proceeds into the USDT stablecoin and transferred the cryptocurrency to wallets operated by collaborators in Cambodia. These wallets were under the control of scam center leaders. Court proceedings revealed that He made multiple trips between the U.S. and Phnom Penh, coordinating the movement of stolen assets.

Wong played a central role in managing a money laundering network in Los Angeles. He facilitated the creation of fraudulent business entities and bank accounts used to channel the proceeds. Zhang, meanwhile, maintained two bank accounts heavily used for laundering operations.

In total, eight individuals have now pleaded guilty in connection with this specific pig butchering scheme. Among them are Daren Li, arrested in April 2024, and Lu Zhang, who entered a guilty plea in November 2024. This case forms part of a broader U.S. Department of Justice initiative to dismantle cryptocurrency fraud, involving cooperation with law enforcement agencies in both the United States and the Dominican Republic.

The announcement of the five latest guilty pleas comes just a month after the U.S. Treasury designated Cambodia’s Huione Group as a “major money laundering concern” and proposed banning it from the American financial system. Authorities stated that the Huione platform played a pivotal role in enabling such scams, acting as an intermediary or guarantor for transactions. Billions of dollars obtained through cyber fraud passed through its infrastructure. According to official sources, Huione’s top executives have ties to Cambodian government institutions.

United Nations estimates suggest that at least 100,000 people in Cambodia have been drawn into similar schemes—many of them victims of human trafficking or deception, coerced into working in scam operations under threats and intimidation.