Nikolas Sargeant
TL;DR
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The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to forfeit more than $25 million in cryptocurrency recovered through five investigations into international fraud networks.
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The schemes allegedly targeted victims across the U.S. and Canada through fake crypto investments, romance scams, and recovery fraud.
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Investigators traced laundering operations primarily to Southeast Asia, with links to China, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking the forfeiture of more than $25 million in cryptocurrency recovered during five separate investigations into international fraud networks accused of targeting victims in the United States and Canada.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced Tuesday that agents from the U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office, working through the Cyber Fraud Task Force, uncovered multiple cryptocurrency laundering operations linked to scams that deceived thousands of victims worldwide into making fraudulent digital asset investments.
Five Investigations Uncover Multiple Crypto Scam Operations
According to federal prosecutors, the largest investigation began after Canadian authorities alerted U.S. officials in late 2024. Investigators traced more than 270 suspected victim transactions, leading authorities to seek the forfeiture of approximately $10.4 million in cryptocurrency.
A second investigation centered on online romance scams involving more than 200 victims, with prosecutors pursuing roughly $12.1 million in recovered crypto assets.
The remaining three cases include:
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A May 2026 investigation seeking approximately $1.2 million.
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A March 2026 investigation involving victims in the U.S. National Capital Region, seeking about $2.4 million.
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A recovery fraud scheme, in which scammers charged victims fees to recover previously stolen funds, with authorities seeking roughly $285,000.
Investigators said the cryptocurrency was laundered through networks operating primarily in Southeast Asia, with digital evidence linking many of the operations to IP addresses in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
According to the DOJ, the laundering networks helped conceal stolen funds generated through fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms, romance scams, and other online financial fraud schemes.
Scam Center Strike Force Recovers Over $800 Million
Federal prosecutors said the latest forfeiture action forms part of the Scam Center Strike Force, an initiative launched in November 2025 by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro to disrupt international fraud organizations targeting U.S. consumers.
Since its creation, the task force has recovered more than $800 million linked to cryptocurrency-enabled fraud and online scam operations.
Commenting on the latest action, Pirro said the seizure demonstrates the government's commitment to dismantling sophisticated international fraud networks and disrupting the financial infrastructure that enables them.
