The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on March 21 that $7 million in proceeds from a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme have been recovered and cleared through civil asset forfeiture. The announcement states:

The United States has recovered and cleared title to $7 million of investment fraud proceeds using civil asset forfeiture. The United States will now begin the process of inviting the victims from whom those funds were stolen to submit petitions to have the funds remitted back to them.

The announcement came after U.S. District Judge Rossie D. Alston Jr. approved a settlement between the U.S. and a foreign bank where the funds had been located.

The DOJ’s complaint outlined how scammers relied on social engineering to gain the confidence of victims before presenting fraudulent cryptocurrency investment opportunities. “These websites were set up to mimic legitimate cryptocurrency investment platforms, but funneled victim funds to the perpetrators through over 75 bank accounts in the names of shell companies,” the authorities said. Victims were led to believe their investments were increasing in value, but in reality, the gains were fabricated.

The DOJ noted:

The sites falsely represented to the victims that their investments were making sizeable gains. However, when victims would attempt to make withdrawals, the perpetrators would coerce the victims to send even more money using tactics such as claiming the victims owed taxes on their purported profits.

After laundering the funds through a complex series of domestic and international transactions, the perpetrators ultimately transferred the money overseas. In June 2023, the U.S. Secret Service seized funds from a foreign bank account, prompting the DOJ to file a civil forfeiture complaint. Following a claim by the foreign bank, a settlement was reached, resulting in $7 million being forfeited to the United States.

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