Posted on 06/19/2025 8:43:35 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said her office has seized more than $225.3 million in cryptocurrency linked to a sprawling international fraud and money laundering network responsible for defrauding hundreds of victims through online investment scams.
Pirro announced at a June 18 news conference in Washington that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has filed a civil forfeiture complaint in federal court.
The action targets the proceeds of a vast international fraud operation with ties to organized crime syndicates and human trafficking networks operating out of scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
The $225.3 million seizure, now in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, is “the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history,” according to Special Agent in Charge Shawn Bradstreet of the Secret Service’s San Francisco Field Office.
The U.S. Secret Service and FBI used blockchain analysis to trace a complex laundering network involving more than 144 cryptoexchange accounts, 263,000 transactions, and more than $3 billion in digital currency, according to the complaint.
Funds were routed through layers of intermediary “pass-through” accounts to obscure their origin, with evidence pointing to scam centers operated with trafficked labor.
The schemes—also known as “pig butchering” scams—typically involve criminals luring victims into sending funds for purported investments, often in the form of cryptocurrency, which turn out to be fraudulent.
One notable case cited in the complaint involved a Kansas bank CEO who was persuaded by scammers running a cryptocurrency confidence scheme to embezzle $47 million from the bank to invest in a fake crypto platform—through which the criminals then defrauded him of the embezzled funds.
In another case, a Texas victim lost $7 million after being persuaded to invest in a platform that he realized was fraudulent when he tried to withdraw his funds.
More than 430 individuals fell victim to the scams detailed in the complaint.
“This is about quick money,“ Pirro said. ”It’s about old crimes being committed in new ways. Every fast and loose criminal for centuries knows how it’s done, and they’ve done it over and over again, and they continue to do it today.”
Criminals begin by identifying targets—often on social media, through deceptive job postings or fraudulent investment pitches. They work to earn the victim’s trust, then exploit that trust to siphon funds under the guise of legitimate investment opportunities.
The perpetrators behind the scams often use techniques such as “peel chains”—in which crypto is broken into smaller amounts and passed through hundreds of wallets—and “chain hopping” to move assets across blockchains and currencies to mask their movement and origin, according to the complaint.
What sets today’s schemes apart, Pirro said, is the unprecedented speed and scale made possible by digital platforms and emerging technologies.
“So the hopeful investor now enters the Wild West on an international scale, where the crime is global, where there are no borders, and where the crypto criminals avoid the rules because this is an unregulated Wild West,” Pirro said.
Bradstreet 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.”
I hate it when I get scammed out of the money I embezzled fair and square all on my own.
This is what actual crypto law enforcement looks like, as compared to the SEC spending years ignoring all the scams and fraud and instead targeting every legit crypto business like a bunch of mafioso.
Now, find the ones who did it and kill them. Somebody start doing something about all of this corruption, theft, etc., etc. at high levels. Do something drastic to put the fear of God in people.
U go Gyrl !!!!
Hopefully the IRS is not demanding taxes on your original scam....
So much for crypto being “ anonymous “…..
They’ll never find me. For a home address, all I gave them was I lived in a tax shelter.
Once again the “victims” (embezzler) sent his crypto to an “exchange” run by the baddies. No “anonymization” expected and none given..the victim essentially gave his money away.
If anonymity is required get a fresh Bitcoin “wallet” (or “BTC Core”) and never re-use an address or place your BTC on an exchange from your new wallet. No “KYC” at an exchange means you are an anonymous encrypted number as far as the Internet, the public or the Feds are concerned.
https://beincrypto.com/learn/guide-to-using-bitcoin-anonymously/
Pirro is a female pitbull.
So is Stefanik.
Anyone messing with either of them is going to be chewed up and spit out.
I hope they get the money back to the people that got scammed.
I don’t know if that’s even possible.
Ya got to love Judge Piro!
All fine and dandy, but nothing still beats cash or PM’s, unaffected by power outages, lost codes, etc…us old timers will stick with what has worked for 5,000 years.
I am trying to imagine a pile of electrons
presented as evidence in the courtroom...
OK, but plenty of forms of “cash” have come and gone over 5K years! Diversify... PM’s, stable food stocks, antibiotics, .22LR, booze (fav trade item), and Bitcoin to get money quickly (10 minutes) to relatives/friends in other states & countries. Also as USD goes down in value BTC will continue to rise in value...like real estate “they aren’t making more” (only 21 million BTC “minted”/mined). Hawaii might disagree on the “no new real estate” tho.:
https://www.youtube.com/live/BqmpkUdMtyA?si=7V0hAHxA4amH_gtq
“...cash or PM’s...”
-
Whats a PM?
later
How do you seize something that doesn’t exist?
“So much for crypto being “anonymous “…..”
And “Secure”...
I know BPB. He's a professional and I am certain applied the time honored tradition of setting up an NGO to be financed by USAID to employ the wives of the IRS director a couple of senators and congressmen. Another similar NGO employs the spouses of a couple of USAID contract officers who fund and write up the whole scam.
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