U.S. Moves to Forfeit $1.97M in Crypto Linked to Pig Butchering Scam

On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, the United States government filed a forfeiture complaint in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, seeking to seize over 1.97 million USDT tokens linked to a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme. The complaint targets three cryptocurrency wallet addresses holding 852,654.047192 USDT, 105,553.680342 USDT, and 1,013,192.066449 USDT, respectively, which are currently controlled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The forfeiture action alleges that the tokens were involved in a “pig butchering” scam that defrauded a Virginia resident of over $5 million between April and July 2024. The victim, whose identity was not disclosed, was contacted via an unsolicited text message by an individual claiming to be a woman named Amy Pan. The conversation moved to WhatsApp, where Pan, posing as a cryptocurrency trading expert, persuaded the victim to invest through a fraudulent platform called Wealthob.

According to the complaint, the victim transferred approximately $4.2 million in Bitcoin (BTC) from a Strike account to a wallet address unrelated to Wealthob. The funds were then moved through multiple wallets, converted to USDT, and deposited into the three targeted wallet addresses. The scam involved a fake trading platform that displayed false account balance increases to encourage further investments. When the victim attempted to withdraw funds, the scammers demanded additional payments, claiming taxes were owed on fictitious profits.

The complaint details specific transactions, including a May 24, 2024, transfer of 10.08 BTC, valued at approximately $695,263, from the victim’s Strike account to a wallet controlled by the scammers. Within hours, the funds were moved to other wallets and eventually converted to USDT through a Binance.com account linked to an individual in China. Between June 5 and July 9, 2024, the USDT was transferred to the three wallet addresses now subject to forfeiture.

The FBI’s investigation, supported by blockchain analysis, traced the funds and confirmed their connection to the fraud. On July 29, 2024, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office requested that Tether, the company managing USDT, freeze the three wallet addresses. Tether complied, securing the tokens until the FBI obtained a seizure warrant on December 6, 2024.

The government is pursuing forfeiture under two legal provisions: 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(A), which allows seizure of property involved in money laundering, and 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C), which targets proceeds from wire fraud. The complaint asserts that the complex movement of funds through multiple wallets was designed to conceal their origin, constituting money laundering.

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