A Chinese national made his initial court appearance in Los Angeles on Friday after being extradited from the Netherlands for his alleged role in an international cryptocurrency investment conspiracy carried out from scam centres in Cambodia that targeted U.S. citizens, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a release on October 23.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice — U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California (Oct 23, 2026)

Zheng Zhao, 44, was ordered detained, with his next court date scheduled for November 30 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles, the Central District release said. UPI, reporting the same Justice Department announcement, said Zhao was arraigned on a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The charges are allegations, and Zhao is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Source: UPI via Europe Says — Chinese national extradited to U.S. in $37M cryptocurrency scam case (Oct 23, 2026)

According to court documents summarised by the Justice Department, co-conspirators contacted U.S. victims through social media, telephone calls, text messages and online dating services to gain their trust, then directed them to fraudulent websites designed to look like legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms. The sites falsely showed victims' investments growing, while the money was in fact stolen, prosecutors allege.

$36.9M+Victim funds prosecutors say were moved in the scheme (about 3.69 crore dollars)
174Identified U.S. victims, per the Justice Department
20 yearsMaximum prison term for the money-laundering conspiracy charge if convicted
8Co-conspirators who have already pleaded guilty, per DOJ/UPI

More than $36.9 million in victim funds was transferred from U.S. bank accounts controlled by members of the conspiracy to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors allege Zhao and his co-conspirators then arranged for the money to be converted into the stablecoin Tether (USDT) and transferred to digital wallets in Cambodia, where it was distributed to the leaders of the scam centres. The Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs release carried the same account of the alleged laundering route.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice — Office of Public Affairs release (Oct 23, 2026)

What is solid

  • The Justice Department announced on October 23 that Zheng Zhao, 44, was extradited from the Netherlands, appeared in federal court in Los Angeles, and was ordered detained, with a November 30 court date in the Central District release.
  • Both Justice Department releases and UPI report 174 identified U.S. victims, more than $36.9 million moved to a Deltec Bank account in the Bahamas, conversion to Tether, and eight co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty.

What is only claimed

  • The scheme's mechanics — fake trading sites, shell-company accounts and the Cambodia wallet route — are prosecutors' allegations from court documents; Zhao has not been convicted.
  • Zhao is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering; a criminal charge is an accusation, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

'This extradition should be a lesson to all those who seek to exploit vulnerable Americans from overseas,' said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. 'We will pursue charged defendants anywhere in the world.' For diaspora readers who are routinely targeted by social-media and messaging-app investment pitches, the case is a concrete warning: a trading site that only ever shows gains, reached through a stranger's message, is the exact pattern federal prosecutors describe here.