Shengsheng He, a California resident, was sentenced on 8 September 2025 to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $26.9 million in restitution for laundering nearly $37 million through an international cryptocurrency investment fraud. The case forms part of the U.S. Department of Justice's broader crackdown on crypto-related fraud and highlights the growing threat posed by so-called pig butchering scams.
According to the DOJ, He co-founded the Bahamas-based Axis Digital Limited alongside Jose Somarriba, opening a bank account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas to receive victim funds. Conspirators operating from scam centres in Cambodia contacted victims through social media, unsolicited phone calls, and dating apps, promoting fraudulent crypto investments while falsely claiming their assets were appreciating in value. Over $36.9 million in victim funds were funnelled into a single Deltec Bank account, converted into the Tether (USDT) stablecoin, and transferred to wallets controlled by criminals in Cambodia, including in Sihanoukville. He pleaded guilty in April 2025 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. Eight co-conspirators have pleaded guilty in total, including Jingliang Su, a Chinese national who served as an Axis Digital director and facilitated the conversions, and Joseph Wong and Yicheng Zhang, who each pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years. Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the DOJ's Criminal Division, stated that the defendant was part of a group of co-conspirators that stole nearly $37 million from American victims using Cambodian scam centres.
The case illustrates the complex architecture of international crypto fraud schemes that rely on shell companies, offshore banking, and digital asset conversions for money laundering. The DOJ has continued its enforcement push in recent months, seizing $201,000 in crypto linked to Hamas in March 2025 and beginning to return $7.1 million to victims of a $97 million oil and gas fraud scheme in July.
Sources:
