DOJ $225M Pig Butchering Civil Forfeiture — U.S. v. Approx. $225,364,961 in USDT
Summary
On June 18, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia filed a civil forfeiture complaint (case 25-cv-1907) to seize approximately $225.3 million in USDT — at the time the largest-ever U.S. seizure of funds tied to cryptocurrency confidence scams. The funds were traced through a complex blockchain money-laundering network to a Philippines-based call center compound and approximately 144 accounts on the OKX exchange, with victims numbering more than 430 globally. The action sits within a broader 2025–2026 enforcement wave by the Scam Center Strike Force, which froze and seized over $580 million in cryptocurrency by February 2026 from Chinese transnational criminal organizations operating pig-butchering scam compounds in Burma, Cambodia, and Laos.
Connected Entities
1 entitiesTimeline(10 events)
2023-07-01
Heartland Tri-State Bank (Elkhart, Kansas) collapses; regulators later establish that CEO Shan Hanes embezzled $47.1 million of bank funds and directed them to a pig-butchering scam platform traced to the same network targeted in the June 2025 complaint.
Fortune2023-06-01
Tether freezes $225 million in USDT linked to a pig-butchering network and notifies the U.S. Secret Service, which authorizes the seizure — the largest in Secret Service history at that time.
TRM Labs2024-08-01
Shan Hanes, former CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank, is sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for embezzling $47 million of bank funds and directing them to the pig-butchering network.
Fortune2025-06-18
U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia files civil forfeiture complaint 25-cv-1907 to seize approximately $225,364,961 in USDT — the largest-ever U.S. seizure tied to crypto confidence schemes. Complaint alleges connection to a Manila, Philippines compound (ITECHNO Specialist Inc.) and identifies 434 victims globally.
NBC News2025-10-14
DOJ and UK partners file forfeiture complaint targeting approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (~$15 billion) in the Prince Group case, surpassing the $225 million action as the largest forfeiture in DOJ history. Chen Zhi, founder of the Cambodia-based Prince Group, is indicted on wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering charges.
CNN2025-11-12
DOJ formally launches the Scam Center Strike Force, a multi-agency initiative targeting Chinese transnational criminal organizations operating pig-butchering compounds in Southeast Asia.
TRM Labs2026-01-06
Chen Zhi is arrested by Cambodian police, has his Cambodian citizenship revoked by royal decree, and is extradited to China — reportedly preventing U.S. extradition.
DL News2026-02-26
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announces Scam Center Strike Force has frozen, seized, and forfeited over $580 million in cryptocurrency from Chinese transnational criminal organizations in under three months of formal operation.
U.S. Secret Service2026-04-23
Scam Center Strike Force charges two Chinese nationals (Huang Xingshan and Jiang Wen Jie) for managing the Shunda compound in Min Let Pan, Burma; restrains $701.96 million in cryptocurrency; seizes 503 fraudulent investment websites and a Telegram recruitment channel with 6,000+ followers.
DOJ Office of Public Affairs2026-07-21
DOJ files five additional civil forfeiture complaints targeting over $25 million in USDT tied to pig-butchering rings, with laundering activity traced to IP addresses in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
ScamWatchHQDecision Log
- #1publish⛓ pending8/22/2026, 5:15:00 PMhash: EnGvTvRVKnGLqgc2f7eznCwycoLCdUiyw6xH6PUgS12Q
23 of 24 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 8/22/2026, 5:14:51 PM
last updated: 8/22/2026, 9:45:56 PM
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