Federal Prosecutors in Seattle are seeking to win millions of encryption linked to an investment scheme in the hope of distributing it to the victims.
The US seeks to arrest $ 7.1 million in encryption seized by Homeland Security in December linked to an allegedly fraudulent oil and gas investment scheme.
The US prosecutor said on Tuesday that he filed a civil action to seek the loss of some of the $ 97 million taken by the alleged scheme that occurred between June 2022 and July 2024.
“The co-schools of this fraud have moved their illicit gains through various cryptocurrency accounts to try to launder the victims’ stolen money,” said the US interim lawyer to Seattle Teal Luthy Miller.
Miller’s Office said that the cryptographic accounts that are seeking confiscation belong to individuals resident in Russia and Nigeria, who used the victims’ backgrounds to buy encryption and sent part of these funds for exchanges in their home countries.
One indicted by paper in the supposed scheme
At least one individual supposedly facilitated money laundering for transnational criminal organizations.
Geoffrey Auyeng was indicted in August 2024, after being accused of receiving the part of the Fraudulent Investment Scheme part.
Auyeng was accused of buying Bitcoin, Tether, USDC and ether with supposedly stolen funds and would send most of the encryption to Crypto Exchange Binance.
US authorities seized nearly $ 2.3 million in their bank accounts at the time of their arrest.
The Justice Department stated that investors were attracted under the pretext of profiting through an investment scheme that would buy oil tann storage facilities, with the intention of renting them to others to get substantial gains.
However, since the victims sent their money, the prosecutors claimed that those involved in the scheme would simply fail to respond.
Prosecutors claimed to have identified victims who were fraudulent at $ 17.9 million and expect more to meet their claim after being identified and found that they were victims of the alleged coup.
If the court approves the confiscation request of US $ 7.1 million, the recovered funds will be $ 9.4 million, which would be distributed to any alleged victim.
Recent regulatory recruitment
In recent weeks, regulators have repressed malicious actors in the cryptographic space.
Earlier this month, US prosecutors accused two men who were promoters of Omegapro, who allegedly defrauded investors of $ 650 million. If they are considered guilty, they could face up to 40 years in prison.
On Friday, former rugby player Shane Donovan Moore was sentenced to two and a half years in a US federal prison for operating a $ 900,000 Ponzi scheme that deceived more than 40 investors.
On Thursday, Hong Kong police arrested four individuals who defrauded $ 3 million investors in Hong Kong ($ 382,000). However, the alleged mentor behind the operation managed to escape abroad.