DOJ $25M Pig Butchering Seizure (July 2026)

2024-01-01

FBI launches Operation Level Up, a proactive victim-intervention initiative to identify and contact active pig-butchering victims before losses are completed.

2024-11-01

Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2540 (MicMarkets Platform) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.

2025-01-01

Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2542 ($78 million network) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.

2025-05-01

U.S. Treasury proposes Section 311 action against Huione Group for laundering at least $4 billion in illicit proceeds including pig-butchering proceeds.

2025-07-01

Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2539 (Zoomex Spoof) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.

2025-10-16

FinCEN issues final Section 311 rule barring U.S. financial institutions from transacting with Huione Group, effective November 17, 2025.

2025-11-12

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro officially launches the Scam Center Strike Force in the District of Columbia to target Southeast Asian cryptocurrency investment fraud.

2026-01-01

UK National Crime Agency refers the victims later named in Case 26-cv-2541 (Recovery Fraud) to U.S. authorities.

2026-02-24

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina, led by HSI Raleigh and supported by TRM Labs and Tether, announces seizure of $61 million in USDT linked to pig-butchering scams.

2026-03-16

Operation Atlantic: Joint U.S. Secret Service, UK NCA, Ontario Provincial Police, and Ontario Securities Commission action identifies 20,000+ wallet addresses, freezes $12 million, and disrupts 120+ web domains linked to approval phishing scams.

2026-04-23

OFAC sanctions Cambodian Senator Kok An and 28 associated individuals and entities, including Crown Resorts and Heng Feng Cambodia Bank, for operating pig-butchering compound networks. Separately, Scam Center Strike Force indicts Huang Xingshan and Jiang Wen Jie for managing the Shunda compound in Burma; 503 fake investment websites seized and $701.96 million in cryptocurrency restrained.

2026-04-29

Dubai-led Operation First Light results in 276 arrests across Dubai and Thailand; FBI, Dubai Police, and Chinese Ministry of Public Security cooperate. Nine scam centers closed. Named defendants include Thet Min Nyi, Wiliang Awang, Andreas Chandra, and Lisa Mariam. Organizations targeted: Ko Thet Company, Sanduo Group, Giant Company. Telegram recruitment channel with 6,000+ followers seized.

2026-06-03

DOJ announces Scam Center Strike Force Disruption Week results in coordination with Apple, Coinbase, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TRM Labs: more than 1.4 million social media and email accounts interrupted, seven arrests in Thailand.

2026-05-27

Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2543 (National Capital Region) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.

2026-07-21

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia files five civil forfeiture complaints (26-cv-2539 through 26-cv-2543) seeking recovery of more than $25 million in USDT from pig-butchering fraud rings operating primarily in Southeast Asia. Hundreds of U.S. and Canadian victims identified.