Chinese couple charged with laundering $9 million from pig butchering romance scam victims

Summary

Federal officials are targeting Feng Chen and Tianqiong Xu, a Chinese couple accused of a $9.5 million cryptocurrency "pig butchering" scam that affected at least 120 victims, primarily of Chinese heritage, across the United States. The couple operated from their home in Frisco, Texas, from January 2021 to January 2024, using fake apps and online records to trick victims into investing in cryptocurrency. In June 2024, a federal grand jury in Vermont indicted them for wire fraud and money laundering. The couple fled to China in late 2023, days after an FBI search of their home, leaving behind over $6 million in cryptocurrency. One victim in Vermont reportedly lost $600,000 after liquidating their retirement account. The FBI and Secret Service had been investigating the scam since 2021.