January 27, 2026

The United States filed a verified civil forfeiture complaint (Case No. 2:26-cv-00087) in the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on January 15, 2026, seeking forfeiture of 5,680,000 USDT tokens held in virtual currency address 0x7f6Ed26BB1488D1b420E10D722ef8bDf7D845B31, now in US Marshals Service (USMS) custody (Compl. at p. 1). The action proceeds under 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(a)(1)(A), 981(a)(1)(C), 981(b), 982(a)(1), 982(a)(2), and 853(f), asserting the tokens are “property involved in money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956 and proceeds of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343” (Compl. at p. 2, 13).

The case arises from an FBI investigation (February–July 2025) into a pig butchering scam—an investment fraud where perpetrators gradually groom victims via romance or trust-building before stealing cryptocurrency investments (Compl. at footnote 1, p. 2). It centers on Pennsylvania resident A.T., who lost approximately $585,000 (later listed as $584,000) (Compl. at p. 2, 6).

Contact began with a misdirected text (“Emily make sure you go to grandma’s party”) in February 2025, shifting to Telegram with “Miranda Lopez.” Lopez built confidence, urged secrecy (“I hope you can keep this secret, do not disclose the information that you and I trade…”), and directed A.T. to a fraudulent domain for fake trading and a Coinbase account (Compl. at p. 3–4).

A.T. transferred ~$25,000 (April 10, 2025) and ~$242,000 (242,209.53 USDC, May 10, 2025), totaling $267,000 (Compl. at p. 4). The platform displayed illusory profits ($2.685 million), but withdrawals demanded fees: $232,000 (paid June 10), then $320,000 for “insider trading” (partial payments $50,000 and $35,000) (Compl. at p. 4–5). A.T. reported the scam after realizing the fraud. Blockchain tracing showed A.T.’s funds laundered through multiple addresses, converted (e.g., USDC to USDT), and deposited into Address 74bf (0xC1B68434D0Ef9A78E7f62e3b9850B70B3d0174bf), holding 5,680,000 USDT as of September 15, 2025 (Compl. at p. 5, 7). Detailed transaction flows (with diagrams, Compl. at p. 8–11) depict pooling: e.g., A.T.’s portion combined with funds from M.D., J.E., R.W., G.A., G.T., and others, yielding deposits like 1,000,000 USDT into Address 74bf (Compl. at p. 11, ¶32).

Reverse tracing identified at least 19 additional U.S. victims, confirmed via FBI interviews or IC3 complaints, with total estimated losses of $18,520,000 (victim chart, Compl. at p. 6). Schemes shared hallmarks: misdirected texts, encrypted apps, fake relatives with “profitable” tips, legitimate exchange use, fraudulent domains showing bogus profits, withdrawal blocks, and demands for taxes/fees (Compl. at p. 6–7).

Of the 5,680,000 USDT, ~2,495,000 traced to identified victims and ~991,000 to Huione Pay (Cambodia-based, flagged by FinCEN in 2025 as laundering pig butchering proceeds via poor AML/KYC; designated primary money laundering concern under PATRIOT Act §311; severed from U.S. system October 14, 2025) (Compl. at p. 7, 12). Together, ~3,486,000 USDT (~61.37%) linked to illicit sources; no legitimate origins found (Compl. at p. 12–13).

On September 9, 2025, Magistrate Judge Kezia O. L. Taylor issued a seizure warrant (Mag. No. 25-1589). Tether burned the tokens upon service (September 22, 2025) and reissued them to the USMS address on January 13, 2026 (Compl. at p. 1, 13). The government seeks forfeiture, noting victim losses far exceed the seized value (~$5.68 million) (Compl. at p. 13).

Case No. 2:26-cv-00087) is pending in the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The online case docket can be found here.

The Complaint can be found here.

The post “U.S. Seeks Forfeiture of $5.68M USDT in Pig Butchering Scam” first appeared on DigitalAsset.Law on January 27, 2026.