On Wednesday, May 6, 2026, Inge Van Hees filed an amended complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of California against BAM Trading Services Inc. (Binance.US), alleging a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act under 18 U.S.C.S. § 1962(c). Van Hees claims she was the victim of a wire fraud scheme that occurred between January and March 2022.

According to the complaint, individuals posing as representatives of “West Gate Options” induced Van Hees to make multiple electronic transfers. These funds were then converted into Bitcoin and subsequently withdrawn. The plaintiff’s records trace these Bitcoin transfers to a specific address, which WalletExplorer identifies as part of a larger wallet cluster.

Independent forensic analysis reportedly links this traced address to a Binance deposit wallet. The complaint states that three inflows of funds in question were received on February 2, 3, and 9, 2022. The activity of the address was described as “pass-through behavior consistent with exchange deposit or routing activity.”

Van Hees alleges that BAM Trading, by operating the Binance.US exchange platform, played a crucial role in the scheme. She claims that BAM Trading maintained records, including account-holder identity, KYC (Know Your Customer) data, and post-deposit routing information, which are essential for tracing the assets. The lawsuit describes the alleged RICO enterprise as an association-in-fact, involving individuals who solicited funds, controlled wallets, and were connected to the exchange. These participants purportedly routed the fraud-derived assets through Binance’s deposit infrastructure to obscure their origin and hinder recovery.

Van Hees seeks compensatory damages, treble damages as provided under RICO, costs, and other relief, and has demanded a jury trial. She contends that the Binance deposit stage was integral to the completion of the fraud, as it allowed the assets to be absorbed into an exchange environment, making recovery significantly more difficult. The plaintiff acknowledges that key attribution records are held by the exchange and require discovery.

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