A man accused of helping steal nearly $37 million from 174 Americans in a fake crypto investment scam is now in a US court, a reminder of how these scams work.
A Chinese man has been brought to the United States to face charges over a crypto investment scam that took nearly $37 million from 174 victims. Zhen Zhao, 44, was extradited from the Netherlands and arraigned in California. Prosecutors say he helped move the stolen money. He has been charged but not found guilty.
Zhao was charged in August 2025 with conspiracy to commit money laundering. That means helping hide where stolen money came from and where it went. He faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. Prosecutors say he worked with accomplices in the United States and Cambodia.
Eight of his accomplices in the same international ring have already pleaded guilty. Two of them have been sentenced, to 51 months and 46 months in prison.
This type of fraud is often called pig butchering or romance baiting. Criminals reach out through social media, dating sites and messaging apps. They build trust first. Then they steer the person into a fake investment.
In this case, the ring contacted people across the US by unsolicited text messages, social media, phone calls and online dating services. They promoted digital asset investments and told victims their money was growing. It was not. It had been stolen.
The group also built fake websites that looked like real crypto trading platforms. Victims were convinced to send money through those sites.
Victims sent over $36.9 million from US bank accounts to an account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas. It was opened under the name Axis Digital Limited. According to the Department of Justice, the ring arranged for the bank to convert the money into Tether (USDT), a digital coin tied to the US dollar. It was then sent to a crypto wallet controlled in Cambodia.
From there, prosecutors say, co-conspirators passed the funds to the leaders of scam centers across the region.
This is not a rare problem. The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report says investment scammers stole over $8.6 billion last year, based on 72,984 complaints. That is up from $6.5 billion in 2024.
The numbers on a fake trading site can look real. Those fake gains are what keep victims sending more money. If someone you met online, by text or on a dating app steers you toward crypto, treat that as a warning sign.
The material does not say when Zhao's case will go to trial or how he has pleaded. Those details are not yet known.
If a new online contact pushes you to invest in crypto, stop. The gains on the screen may be fake, and they are how scammers keep you sending money.
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