U.S. authorities extradited Zheng Zhao, a 44-year-old Chinese national, to the United States for his alleged role in laundering $36.9 million stolen from 174 American cryptocurrency scam victims. Prosecutors say Zhao helped an international network move the funds through shell companies, bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets before Deltec Bank in the Bahamas converted them into USDT and transferred the crypto to wallets controlled in Cambodia. The money was then distributed among leaders of scam centers operating across the region, and neither Tether nor Deltec Bank has been accused of knowingly participating in the fraud. Zhao is being held pending proceedings and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, while eight other participants have pleaded guilty and the amount recovered by victims remains unknown.
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