U.S. Attorney Pirro’s office announces seizure of over $25M in cryptocurrency tied to global fraud
by Brad Matthews · The Washington TimesThe U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Tuesday that it has seized over $25 million in cryptocurrency linked to multiple international fraud investigations.
Federal prosecutors filed five civil forfeiture complaints Tuesday seeking forfeiture of cryptocurrency taken by the Secret Service Washington Field Office in five probes involving launderers with IP addresses in Cambodia, China and Malaysia.
The victims were located in Canada and the U.S., including two in the National Capital Region. The federal government defines the region as the District of Columbia; Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland; and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, plus the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church and Manassas, all in Virginia.
The biggest case involved an online romance scam with over 200 victims that the Secret Service learned about following a tip from an unspecified private sector partner. The government is seeking a forfeiture of over $12 million seized in the case.
The second-biggest seizure came from a network of virtual currency wallets thought to be transferring illegal proceeds from over 270 victim transactions on fake investment platforms, which the Secret Service learned about from Canadian authorities. The U.S. government is seeking a forfeiture of over $10.4 million.
The third-biggest case involved a victim in the National Capital Region who in March transferred money to a fake investment account, with a second victim identified once the investigation began. The government is seeking a forfeiture of nearly $2.4 million seized in the case.
The next-biggest case after that involved another victim in the National Capital Region who in May reported the fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme after being prevented from withdrawing money. Investigators tracked down the victim’s investments, and the government is seeking a forfeiture of over $1.23 million.
The U.S. attorney’s office did not say where in the region the victims were living at the time of the fraud.
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The last case involved a victim of unrelated fraud who was targeted by scammers who claimed to have some of their stolen money. The victim transferred the new scammers a fee followed by more transactions in hopes of getting the original money back.
The government is seeking a forfeiture of around $285,000 and is working to recover more of the money involved in the case, federal prosecutors said.
The U.S. attorney’s office said investigations to find the suspects behind the scams is ongoing.
“This $25 million seizure is a direct result of the Scam Center Strike Force I launched in November 2025, and it demonstrates the power of aggressively targeting these international fraud networks,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in her office’s release.
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