The Ministry of Justice on Wednesday asked the court to allow the agency to seize $ 225 million from the so-called “Pig Bruitment” operation, which describes the scams, which over time create the victim’s trust, and then fool them in the transfer of big money. The funds conducted by the scammers in Stablecoins USDT were washed through the OKX crystand, the Justice Ministry reports. This is the largest in the United States, the remedies related to the crystance of confidence, the agency said.
While the prosecutors did not name any criminal in complaintThey did Say the Funds we have linked to a “scam compound” in the philippines. Usually in these areas are located dozens of workers who work in a shift to lure the victims to part with their crypto, such as BitcoinEither cash. Many of these workers work on multinational criminal rings and make work against their will, according to Organization of the United Nations.
Doj was able to determine more than 430 victims related to OKX’s 144 accounts through which the victim funds were washed. One such victim was Shan Hanes, former TRI-State Bank Heartland CEO in Kansas. In August 2024 Hanes was convict By 24 years of imprisonment for theft of $ 47 million to invest in what, in his opinion, was the possibility of investment in cryptocurrency, which turned out to be a scam.
“These schemes harm the American victims, worth billions of dollars every year,” said Matthew Galeoti, head of the Doj Criminal Division.
According to the last five years, the losses from cryptocurrencies have accelerated in the US Annual report About crimes on the Internet Federal Bureau of Investigation. From 2023 to 2024 the money that the Americans lost was flying 66% to $ 9.3 billion, and the number of complaints that the agency received more than double to almost 150,000, the state agency said.
The most common crime related to cryptocurrency was extortion, or when bad actors manipulate photos or videos to create obvious content and lure the victims to send the cry. The second most common type was the investment fraud, or when the criminals promise to return to the victims when they send them money.
This latest category includes Hanes, former Bank CEO. “He was a pig that was smashed,” ” wrote His lawyer is at the time of the sentence. “Mr. Henness’s vulnerability to the pig meat made him make very bad decisions, for which he really sorry that he caused the bank and loss of shareholders.”
