U.S. DOJ seeks forfeiture of $456.6K in USDT tied to romance scams

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture action targeting $456,602 in Tether (USDT) to recover proceeds from fraud schemes carried out through social media and dating platforms. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the funds were identified as proceeds from a scam ring that approached victims through dating sites and Facebook, built personal relationships, and then lured them onto fake cryptocurrency investment platforms. U.S. authorities traced how money from victims in Massachusetts and elsewhere in the United States was laundered on-chain and identified the stablecoin assets. The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing civil forfeiture to block the concealment and movement of criminal proceeds, and plans to begin a victim restitution process if the court finalizes the forfeiture.