Overview

• Shengsheng He, 39, of La Puente, California, received a 51‑month federal sentence and was ordered to pay $26,867,242.44 in restitution by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner.
• He pleaded guilty on April 10 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
• According to court filings, co-conspirators lured victims through unsolicited messages and dating sites before routing their money to Axis Digital Limited’s account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas.
• Investigators say the funds were converted to Tether (USDT) and moved to wallets controlled in Cambodia, including to leaders of scam centers in Sihanoukville.
• At least eight co-conspirators have pleaded guilty, including Daren Li and Lu Zhang for money laundering and Axis Digital partners Jose Somarriba and Jingliang Su for unlicensed transmission, as the U.S. Secret Service leads the ongoing probe with multiple agencies.