The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged four American nationals for laundering more than $80 million obtained through crypto investment scams. The defendants allegedly opened shell companies and bank accounts to launder the ill-gotten proceeds.

According to the announcement yesterday (Thursday), the four are facing seven counts of changes in a Los Angeles court. The charges against them include conspiracy to commit money laundering, concealment of money laundering, and international money laundering. Two of the defendants have already been arrested and are now facing prison time of up to 20 years.

"Pig Butchering" Scams

The proceeds were collected through "pig butchering" scams and other investment scams, the DoJ detailed in the indictment. In "pig butchering" scams, perpetrators approach potential victims on dating services, social media, or through unsolicited messages or calls, often masquerading as a wrong number. Scammers then slowly gain the trust of the potential victims for days, if not months, and then eventually pitch the fraudulent crypto business scheme.

After the initial transfer of proceeds to the scammers' accounts, the fraudulent investment platforms even show false gains to persuade the victims to invest further. However, these fraudulent platforms do not allow victims to withdraw their funds.

The DoJ revealed that the overall fraud scheme related to the syndicate involved at least 284 transactions and resulted in more than $80 million in victim losses. The department further added that the funds were transferred to domestic and international financial institutions, and more than $20 million were deposited into accounts directly related to the defendants.

American Prosecutors Curbing Money Laundering with Crypto

The US federal prosecutors recently settled the charges of the anti-money laundering and sanctions law violations by Binance for $4.3 billion. The Founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, additionally pled guilty to one count of money laundering and is now awaiting sentencing.

Meanwhile, the so-called "pig butchering" scams are rampant across the globe. Many regulators have issued multiple warnings against such scams. However, the fraudsters are persistent and find new ways to trap victims.