Federal agents in the U.S. have filed to seize over $225 million in cryptocurrency. This is the largest crypto amount to be seized in the history of the U.S. Secret Service. The civil forfeiture complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
The case targets crypto tied to scams that tricked victims into fake investment schemes, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. This was after a joint investigation by the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The report said they used blockchain analysis to track down the stolen funds. The fund was hidden across hundreds of thousands of transactions, which were done on purpose to confuse the authorities and also make it untraceable. However, the agents were able to follow the trails and freeze the wallets linked to the fraud. These wallets were part of a global scam network that helped criminals wash and move stolen money.
Officials say the funds were tied to “Cryptocurrency confidence Scams,” where victims were persuaded to invest in some deal that had to do with cryptocurrency. Millions of people in the U.S lost their money, and over 400 others around the world.
“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims.” Secret Service Special Agent Shawn Bradstreet said. Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said her team is leading the charge to stop crypto scams.
In a short post on X, she wrote, “Under my leadership, with the support of President Trump and Attorney General Bondi, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia is taking a leading role in the fight against crypto-confidence scams, partnering with law enforcement throughout the country to seize and forfeit stolen funds and rip them from the hands of foreign criminals, all with the eye toward making victims whole.”
The Justice Department stated the goal now is to go after the networks behind these scams and return the stolen assets to the victims.
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