Florida Court Issues Temporary Order Freezing Crypto Wallets in Alleged Fraud Case

On Monday, April 8, 2024, the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida issued a temporary restraining order in the case of Jambulingham v. Defendant 1 Et Al. The plaintiff, Hemanthkumar Jambulingam, alleged that he was defrauded of around $182,278 worth of various cryptocurrencies by two unknown defendants, referred to as Defendant 1 and Defendant 2.

According to the complaint, Defendant 1, also known as AMEAD, and Defendant 2, also known as BINGX, deceived Jambulingam into transferring his cryptocurrency assets into fraudulent accounts that the defendants claimed were established for his benefit. However, the accounts were actually under the defendants’ private control. Once the cryptocurrencies were transferred, the defendants allegedly converted them for their own use.

Through blockchain analysis, Jambulingam was able to identify specific wallet addresses on the cryptocurrency exchanges KuCoin and OKX that he believes the defendants used to launder the stolen assets. He asked the court to freeze five addresses on KuCoin and two on OKX to prevent further movement or transfer of the funds.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell granted an ex parte temporary restraining order without notice to the defendants. In his order, Judge Wetherell found that immediate action was warranted because cryptocurrency transactions can occur quickly in an anonymous manner, putting the stolen assets at risk of dissipation. He also noted that providing advance notice could allow the defendants to further hide the assets. The temporary order freezes the wallet addresses identified for 14 days.

Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.