US authorities seized $25M in cryptocurrency linked to investment and romance scams, filing five forfeiture cases against Southeast Asian launderers.
Regulation & Gov ·
U.S. prosecutors have moved to seize more than $25 million in cryptocurrency recovered from five separate civil forfeiture cases filed in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. The cases target proceeds from investment scams and romance fraud schemes that victimized thousands across the U.S. and Canada, with the Secret Service tracing the illicit funds through intermediary wallets to launderers operating primarily in Southeast Asia.
The largest single case involves approximately $12.1 million stemming from romance fraud affecting over 200 victims, while a second matter flagged by Canadian authorities concerns roughly $10.4 million across more than 270 suspected victim transactions. The remaining three cases range between $285,000 and $2.4 million, including one scheme in which operators posed as recovery specialists. U.S. prosecutors traced illicit proceeds through hundreds of intermediary addresses and identified launderers with IP addresses in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia, according to prosecutors. The seizures are part of the Scam Center Strike Force, launched in November 2025, which has now recovered over $800 million across all investigations to date.
The five cases remain open, and questions persist regarding the full scope of victim recovery mechanisms and the extent of coordination with regional law enforcement in Southeast Asia.