DOJ charges 2 Chinese nationals who allegedly ran overseas cryptocurrency scam center targeting Americans

The Justice Department unveiled charges Thursday against two Chinese nationals allegedly behind an overseas cryptocurrency scam center, as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro vowed that the Trump administration is "just getting started" in combating these schemes. 

Pirro told reporters in Washington, D.C., that cyber-enabled and cryptocurrency investment fraud is "among the fastest growing and the most financially devastating form of cybercrime that is targeting Americans today." The DOJ’s actions come after Pirro launched the Scam Center Strike Force in November last year, following an executive order from President Donald Trump. 

"Today, we announce significant milestones in that fight. We have charged Chinese bosses who ran a scam compound in Burma where thousands were trafficked, enslaved, beaten and then forced to steal from Americans for years. We have seized also a Telegram channel, and that channel was luring workers into a forced compound in Cambodia," Pirro said. "There they were ordered to pose as U.S. banks, as the New York City Police Department, to steal Americans’ life savings." 

"We have taken down more than 500 websites. They were used to steal Americans life savings. My office is going to continue to work to identify the funds stolen," Pirro added. "We have also restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency from U.S. victims of fraud. The administration of President Trump is lockstep in combating these scams, and we are just getting started."

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The Justice Department said the two Chinese nationals, identified as Huang Xingshan and Jiang Wen Jie, were arrested in Thailand earlier this year after allegedly being linked to "cryptocurrency investment fraud operations" out of the Shunda compound in Burma. The pair were charged with wire fraud conspiracy and the U.S. is working to extradite them to face justice on American soil, according to Pirro. 

"The Shunda compound operated from at least January 2025 until approximately November 2025, when it was seized by the Karen National Liberation Army of Burma. The compound used scam websites and mobile applications disguised as legitimate investment platforms to defraud victims, including Americans," the DOJ said. "Workers within the compound were trafficked individuals who were held against their will and forced to defraud victims under the threat of violence and torture." 

"According to the investigation, Huang served at Shunda as a high-level manager and enforcer and personally participated in the physical punishment of trafficked compound workers. Jiang served as a team leader directly supervising workers who specifically targeted American victims," the DOJ added. "Under Jiang’s supervision, one of the people under his command successfully defrauded a single American victim of over $3 million utilizing a fraudulent investment platform. The theft was celebrated within the organization as a paradigm of success."

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Officials said after the Shunda compound was seized, "Huang and Jiang relocated to another scam compound located in Cambodia where they attempted to continue their cryptocurrency investment fraud operation" before their arrests. 

"The Strike Force conducted a first-of-its-kind seizure of a Telegram channel with more than 6,000 followers that was used to recruit individuals to travel to Cambodia under false promises of high-paying employment. Once there, recruited workers were held against their will and forced to defraud victims, including Americans, as part of a sophisticated law enforcement impersonation scheme," the DOJ also said. 

On Thursday, Pirro called on Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov to shut the channel down.

"Now, the workers, though, who responded to these jobs, they end up posing as banks, as police officers, as prosecutors. They sound like Americans, directing Americans to fork over their money or be prosecuted. They have backgrounds and backdrops where they actually look like they are from an official agency," Pirro said. 

"Folks, this isn’t abstract. It is hitting your neighbors, your friends, and your parents' retirement accounts. Some of these victims are so distraught that they end up taking their own lives. This is economic homicide," she added. "We have seized the sites and we are coming for the rest. These criminals thought they were untouchable because they were overseas. Today we are proving them wrong and we are just getting started."