CRIME
4 Indicted In $80 Million ‘Pig Butchering’ Crypto Investment Scam
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Four people have been indicted and two have been arrested in connection with so-called pig butchering cryptocurrency investment scams and other fraud schemes that bilked victims out of more than $80 million, the Department of Justice said Thursday.
The four are accused of conspiring to launder the illicit proceeds of “pig butchering” fraud schemes, from the Chinese phrase sha zhu pan, in which perpetrators cold call or message victims and build a rapport before pretending to teach them how to invest large sums of money into cryptocurrency or other investment vehicles.
The exchanges are fraudulent, and the scammers walk away with the money.
Lu Zhang, 36, Justin Walker, 31, and Joseph Wong, 32, of California and Hailong Zhu, 40, of Illinois, are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, concealment money laundering, and international money laundering. Zhang and Walker have been arrested.
According to court documents, Zhang, Walker, Wong, and Zhu allegedly conspired to create shell companies and open bank accounts to launder the victims’ money. The related pig-butchering syndicate made at least 284 transactions resulting in more than $80 million in victim losses.
More than $20 million in victim funds were directly deposited into bank accounts associated with the defendants, prosecutors said.
Zhang and Walker made their initial appearances in federal court on Wednesday. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The types of investment scams and fraud schemes allegedly carried out in this case are widespread, and federal authorities urge anyone who believes they may be a victims to report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov.
In the report, please reference “Pig Butchering PSA” and include as much information as possible in the complaint including names of investment platforms, cryptocurrency addresses and transaction hashes, bank account information, and names and contact information of suspected scammers, the Justice Department said. Maintain copies of all communications with scammers and records of financial transactions.
TMX contributed to this article.
