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DOJ files civil crypto forfeiture cases seeking $26.4 million
Prosecutors said they will first freeze suspected proceeds, then pursue forfeiture while suspect searches continue, with victim repayment handled later through DOJ remission or restoration.
U.S. prosecutors filed five civil-forfeiture complaints on July 21 seeking roughly $26.4 million in cryptocurrency traced through separate international fraud investigations, according to CryptoSlate.
The cases describe an asset-first approach, where investigators can freeze suspected criminal proceeds before identifying those behind the schemes, then seek forfeiture while suspect searches continue and final seizure and repayment are decided later by the courts and DOJ processes.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said one investigation traced more than 270 suspected victim transactions involving fraudulent investment platforms. Another involved more than 200 romance-scam victims and hundreds of intermediary addresses used to commingle funds.
DOJ said launderers were predominantly located in Southeast Asia, with associated IP addresses in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia, and the complaints highlight the risk of repeat victimization. CryptoSlate also noted DOJ described the five seizures as part of more than $800 million recovered through the Scam Center Strike Force, though the article said reported figures of recovered versus restrained assets are not a direct before-and-after comparison.