Liao Fei, a 31-year-old Chinese national, has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison by a U.S. court for his involvement in cryptocurrency investment scams and money laundering. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced that Liao Fei pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, which involved millions of dollars. The court has ordered Liao Fei to forfeit over $2.3 million in seized assets and pay more than $2.8 million in restitution to victims. Liao Fei and his accomplices were found to have laundered proceeds from "pig butchering" scams, which involve deceiving victims through social media to invest in cryptocurrencies, only to block them from accessing their funds.