FBI and Secret Service used blockchain forensics and Tether aid to trace assets
The U.S. Department of Justice has initiated a civil forfeiture case to seize more than $225 million in digital assets connected to a large-scale, global cryptocurrency investment fraud network. The action represents the largest single cryptocurrency seizure in the history of the U.S. Secret Service.
The complaint, filed on June 18 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, targets funds that investigators traced through hundreds of thousands of blockchain transactions designed to obscure their illicit origins. The operation marks a significant move by the federal government to disrupt organized cybercrime rings and recover funds for defrauded investors.
According to the Justice Department, the seized funds were part of a sophisticated, blockchain-based laundering operation. The criminal network allegedly used so-called “pig butchering” scams, where fraudsters build …
