In a press release on Tuesday evening, the Unitedย States Attorneyโs Office announced its initiation of a civil forfeiture action to reclaim digitalย currency proceeds related to a business email compromise (BEC) fraud scheme. The scheme inย particularย targeted a Massachusetts-based company.
The Government concentratesย on seizing cryptocurrency assets from 7 accounts held at Binanceย Cryptoย exchange, a trending digitalย currency exchange.
Inย theย previous few years, theย Unitedย States has experienced a notable boostย in crypto-related phishing scams. These fraudulent activities have become wholeย lotย of national concerns for individuals, enterprises, and law enforcement agencies.
Alongย with crypto-related phishing scams, another alarming tendency has emerged: pig butchering schemes. These schemes primarily target individuals or enterprises involved in the livestock industry, particularly pig farming.
Investigators were alerted to the BEC fraud incident in March 2022, triggered by an elaborate scheme that manipulated the Massachusetts company through a fraudulent email.
Inย doingย so, the unsuspecting company transferred a substantial sum of almost $900,000 to a bank account situated in California.
Funds Were Redirected To The Cryptocurrency Exchange
In its ongoing effort, the Government intendsย to seize and forfeit digitalย currency confiscated from plentyย of accounts held at Binanceย Cryptoย exchange. These accounts encompass a range of digital assets, including Bitcoin, Tetherย (USDT) (USDT), APE (ApeCoin), JASMY (an ERC-20 token), OGN (Origin Protocol), SHIB (Shiba Inu), XEC (eCash), TLM, and BNB ( Binanceย Cryptoย exchange coin).
The scammers employed effective strategies, deceiving the company into transferring a wholeย lotย of amount from their local bank account to another account. Followingย the funds were wired from the victimized company, they were routed through anย extra bank account before being converted to Bitcoinย (BTC) on a digitalย currency exchange.
Followingย that, the Bitcoinย (BTC) was transferred through numerous cryptocurrency addresses, aligning with techniques commonly observed in money laundering transactions, as stated in the newsย release. In due course, a fraction of the funds went to Binanceย Cryptoย exchange, a prominent digitalย currency exchange.
Nonetheless, in a notable turnย of events, authorities successfully confiscated these funds from Binanceย Cryptoย exchange in August and September 2022. To complicate the tracing of funds, the money was routed through numerous intermediary wallet addresses, adhering to a pattern frequently observed in money laundering transactions.
This strategy attemptedย to obscure the trail of the funds, making it more challenging for investigators to track their origin and destination. Engaging in wire communications as part of a fraudulent scheme to obtain money or property is considered a violation under federal law.
The complaint presented by the Unitedย States Attorneyโs Office firmly claimsย that the confiscated digitalย currency represents the ill-gotten proceeds from the wire fraud and serves as evidence of property involved in money laundering.
This emphasizes the gravity of the charges against the individuals involved in the scheme, as they face legal consequences for their actions.
In the context of a civil forfeiture action, it is necessary to address any states made by third parties regarding the property. These states must be examined and resolved before the property can be forfeited to theย Unitedย States and returned to the victims.
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