The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize over $225.3 million in cryptocurrency, which it alleges was obtained through fraudulent crypto investment schemes.
The complaint, submitted on June 18 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, follows a May 1 court order authorizing the seizure. The funds are now under the control of the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington, D.C.
According to a press release from the DoJ, this represents the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the history of the U.S. Secret Service.
How Authorities Were Alerted to the Fraud
The investigation began in November 2023 when the Secret Service looked into virtual currency accounts suspected of laundering proceeds from crypto scams. Tether, in collaboration with Seychelles-based exchange OKX, notified authorities that approximately $250 million had been identified as linked to fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes involving certain OKX accounts.
Investigators determined that around 434 individuals may have been defrauded, with 60 victims confirmed. The funds associated with these scams were traced to 22 of 144 OKX accounts allegedly operated by the perpetrators.
The filing explains that victim funds did not flow directly into those 144 accounts. Instead, the money passed through a complex web of intermediary addresses before landing in the 22 identified OKX accounts. From there, the assets were often moved through the other 122 accounts believed to be part of the same laundering operation.
Using blockchain tracing tools and other investigative methods, the Secret Service and FBI successfully identified, froze, and confiscated the illicit funds.
“All 144 OKX accounts are believed to be operated by a group involved in cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering,” the filing stated.
That conclusion was based on coordinated activity patterns, repeated transaction partners, consistent account naming practices, and overlapping know-your-customer information, including Vietnamese registrants and links to a Philippine-based call center operation. Investigators also discovered shared IP addresses used across many of the accounts, most of which were located in the Philippines.
Crypto Investment Fraud Continues to Rise
Officials said the victims were tricked into thinking they were participating in legitimate crypto investments. Many ended up losing significant amounts of money as a result.
The FBI considers cryptocurrency-related investment fraud the most financially damaging category of internet crime. In its 2024 Internet Crime Report, the agency noted that investment fraud particularly involving crypto caused over $6.5 billion in losses last year alone.
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