The Justice Department on Wednesday announced the largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency funds linked to so-called pig-butchering scams.
The U.S. attorney’s office filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the District Court for the District of Columbia to seize more than $225.3 million in cryptocurrency that federal prosecutors say was part of a sophisticated blockchain-based money laundering network meant to conceal the source of funds obtained through illegal scams.
According to the forfeiture complaint, the FBI and Secret Service used blockchain analysis and “other investigative techniques” to determine that the funds were connected to the illegal activity.
“This seizure of $225.3 million in funds linked to cryptocurrency investment scams marks the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history,” Special Agent in Charge Shawn Bradstreet of the U.S. Secret Service’s San Francisco Field Office said in a statement.
“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims. The U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and our private partners worked diligently to trace these illicit transactions, identify victims and seize these funds so that they can eventually be returned to their rightful owners,” Bradstreet continued.
