U.S. law enforcement and diplomatic authorities have launched a new push to apprehend a convicted fugitive tied to one of the largest transnational cryptocurrency fraud rings in recent years, announcing a $4 million reward Thursday for any information that leads to the arrest of Daren Li, a Chinese national who holds economic citizenship in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The reward was officially announced through the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP), administered by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, in a public statement released April 23, 2026. Li was already convicted and sentenced on federal money laundering charges by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, but he has evaded custody and remains at large years after his conviction.
According to official details released by U.S. law enforcement, Li played a central role in laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds generated by large-scale scam operations based across Southeast Asia. Court records formally list Li as a dual citizen of China and St. Kitts and Nevis, and investigators confirm he has previously resided in three countries: China, Cambodia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Prosecutors outline that Li pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges, admitting he worked with a broad criminal network to launder funds stolen from thousands of global victims through fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes and associated financial frauds. U.S. State Department officials emphasized that transnational fraud rings like the one Li worked with depend heavily on professional money launderers to move illicit funds across international borders while avoiding detection by global anti-money laundering frameworks, with cryptocurrency offering these criminal groups an extra layer of obfuscation.
Investigative records detail that Li coordinated with his co-conspirators to set up hundreds of U.S. bank accounts registered under fake shell companies, then personally oversaw the movement of stolen funds through both domestic U.S. and cross-border wire transfers. Authorities have traced a minimum of $73.6 million in funds stolen from fraud victims through accounts connected to Li and his criminal network, with nearly $60 million of that illicit sum passing through shell company accounts based in the United States.
This reward announcement is the latest step in a sweeping, ongoing U.S.-led crackdown on transnational cybercriminal networks that operate cross-border fraud and associated criminal activity. In recent months, U.S. authorities have brought charges against multiple other individuals tied to scam compounds operating in Myanmar and Cambodia, alongside coordinated enforcement actions targeting the online infrastructure and financial networks that these criminal groups use to facilitate fraud, money laundering, and even human trafficking.