Daren Li, who has fled a 20-year sentence for for his alleged role in stealing and laundering $73 million in Cambodia-based cryptocurrency scams, rents out a villa in Dubai.
Daren Li, a Chinese and Saint Kitts and Nevis national on the run from a 20-year United States prison sentence for his role in a large Cambodia-based cryptocurrency scam operation owns property in Dubai, real estate records show.
Tenancy contract data shows that under his Saint Kitts passport, Li owns a five bedroom residential villa in Wadi Al Safa 7, a gated community in Dubai’s suburbs.
As of last year, this property was leased to a Chinese national, on a contract valid at least up until September 2025, which was generating AED250,000 ($68,000) in annual income for Li. Records also show he had leased it out to another Chinese national the previous year, on a similar contract basis.
Li was sentenced in absentia on Monday to 20 years in federal prison by the Central District Court of California for his role in a cryptocurrency investment conspiracy that allegedly laundered more than $73 million stolen from U.S. citizens, said a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
He pleaded guilty in November 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering but is now a fugitive after cutting an electronic monitoring device from his ankle and absconding in December 2025, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Li is among eight alleged co-conspirators who have pleaded guilty to the scheme. At least three other of his alleged co-conspirators have also been sentenced to prison.
