The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a civil forfeiture action to recover $2.5 million in cryptocurrency for victims of a pig butchering scheme. The action, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, seeks to retrieve cryptocurrency seized by the FBI from foreign perpetrators.
According to the DOJ, the government is seeking to forfeit 2,546,415.01 USD Coin, equivalent to approximately $2.5 million, which was seized from two accounts controlled by a perpetrator in Thailand. This action is part of efforts to combat pig butchering schemes, where scammers defraud victims by establishing trust online and persuading them to invest in fake cryptocurrency schemes. Civil forfeiture allows the U.S. to seize assets from criminals, promote cooperation among law enforcement, and potentially compensate victims.
"Our office will find and hold accountable criminal organizations – whether they operate within the United States or outside of it – that use fraudulent investment schemes like ‘pig butchering’ to defraud victims in the U.S.," said U.S. Attorney Graves, according to a press release by DOJ. "This forfeiture action demonstrates that scammers cannot hide their illegal activity by using cryptocurrency and engaging in complicated transactions: we will find them, seize their illegal proceeds, and get money back to the victims."
Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world by trading volume, stated in a post on X that it assisted in the investigation. "Binance is proud to have supported FBI San Diego in the investigation, analysis and seizure in this ‘pig butchering’ scam," the company said in the post. "Through collaboration and intelligence sharing, our Investigations and Case teams helped uncover leads and processed the seizure of $2.5M for the victims."
Under the Attorney General's leadership, DOJ comprises over 40 organizations and 115,000 employees with offices across the U.S. and in over 50 countries. Its mission is to uphold the rule of law, ensure national security, and protect civil rights.
