The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized over $225 million in cryptocurrency tied to a global investment fraud and money laundering network, marking the largest crypto seizure in U.S. Secret Service history.
The funds, traced using advanced blockchain analysis tools, were stolen from over 400 victims and laundered through hundreds of thousands of transactions to obscure their origin. Investigators followed the trail through 93 scam deposit addresses, 35 intermediary wallets, and finally into seven Tether (USDT) wallet groups, one of which held over $135 million alone.
Private partners, including Tether and blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, assisted federal agencies in unmasking the laundering scheme. Tether froze, burned, and reissued the seized USDT to the U.S. government to facilitate recovery via civil forfeiture.
The complaint also highlighted a case involving a U.S. bank executive who unknowingly wired $47.1 million of the bank’s assets into the scheme, believing he was making legitimate investments.
The DOJ invoked federal statutes allowing the forfeiture of funds linked to wire fraud and money laundering, and while no victim restitution process has yet been announced, the seized funds are expected to be used for that purpose.
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