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US Offers $4 Million Reward for Arrest of Fugitive Money Launderer Daren Li
The United States has announced a bounty of up to $4 million for information leading to the arrest of Daren Li, a 43-year-old Chinese national convicted of money laundering. Li fled after removing his monitoring device following a guilty plea in cryptocurrency scam-related fraud. He was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison.
South China Morning PostAudio version
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The United States announced a reward of up to $4 million for information leading to the arrest of Daren Li, a 43-year-old Chinese national who fled after his money laundering conviction. The bounty was revealed on Thursday through the State Department's Transnational Organised Crime Rewards Programme, according to a South China Morning Post report.
In February, the US Court for the Central District of California convicted and sentenced Li in absentia to 20 years in prison.
Li had pleaded guilty in November 2024 to conspiring to launder funds obtained from victims through cryptocurrency scams and related fraud in Southeast Asia, the report stated. Li removed his electronic monitoring device and fled in December 2025, according to the Department of Justice.
Court documents indicate that Li holds dual citizenship in China and St Kitts and Nevis, a two-island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea.
At various times, Li has lived in China, Cambodia, and the United Arab Emirates, per the court documents cited in the South China Morning Post report. The State Department's programme targets transnational organized crime, and this reward aims to facilitate Li's capture following his escape from the US.
