Zheng Zhao, 44, a Chinese national, was arraigned in the Central District of California 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 US citizens, the US Department of Justice said in a press release dated 23 October 2026; it says the government identified 174 US victims.

According to the Justice Department, co-conspirators contacted victims through unsolicited social media messages, phone calls, text messages and online dating services, promoted fake digital-asset investments through websites built to look like real cryptocurrency trading platforms, and told victims their investments were growing when the money had in fact been stolen.

The department says more than US$36.9 million in victim funds was moved from US bank accounts controlled by the co-conspirators to a single account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas, and that Zhao and others arranged for the bank to convert it to the Tether (USDT) stablecoin and send it to a digital asset wallet controlled in Cambodia, from where it went to leaders of scam centres in the region. Zhao was charged in August 2025 with conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted; the department notes a complaint is only an allegation and defendants are presumed innocent.

Eight co-conspirators have pleaded guilty, and two of them were sentenced to 51 and 46 months in prison, the Justice Department says.

BleepingComputer reported the extradition on 26 October.