A man was sentenced to 40 months in prison in the U.S. for participating in a cryptocurrency scam, with the amount involved reaching several million dollars

According to the official website of the U.S. Department of Justice, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced that a Chinese national, Fei Liao, has been sentenced to federal prison for participating in the laundering of funds obtained from cryptocurrency investment scams. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced to 40 months in prison by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker in 2026.

Liao was also ordered to forfeit over $2.3 million in seized funds and to pay more than $2.8 million in restitution to victims. The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs for the Eastern District of Texas, investigated by the Tyler field office of the United States Secret Service, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Austin Wells. Court documents show that Liao assisted in laundering funds from "Pig Butchering" and other cryptocurrency investment scams by setting up shell companies and bank accounts with others.

Such scams typically contact victims through social media, dating platforms, or unsolicited phone calls, establishing a trust relationship before luring them into investing in cryptocurrency. After victims transfer money to accounts controlled by the scammers, the fraudulent platform displays high returns, enticing further investment, ultimately leading to victims being unable to withdraw funds and suffering significant losses. Law enforcement agencies remind individuals that if they encounter similar scams, they can report them to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and provide as much information as possible, including the name of the investment platform, cryptocurrency addresses, transaction hashes, bank account information, and suspect contact details, while retaining communications and transfer records with the scammers.