Audit log

Every state-changing event for DOJ $225M Pig Butchering Civil Forfeiture — U.S. v. Approx. $225,364,961 in USDT: moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions are designed to carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key. Archive coverage is still being backfilled, so each decision below reports its own snapshot status rather than assuming one exists.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-08-22 17:15:00Z
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   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"67545c13-d1b5-42ab-8926-c1718187a685","kind":"publish","page_slug":"doj-225m-pig-butchering-civil-forfeiture-u-s-v-approx-225-364-961-in-usdt","published_at":"2026-08-22T17:15:00.224Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"DOJ $225M Pig Butchering Civil Forfeiture — U.S. v. Approx. $225,364,961 in USDT","sections":[{"content":"The U.S. Department of Justice, through the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, filed civil forfeiture complaint 25-cv-1907 on June 18, 2025. The complaint sought forfeiture of approximately $225,364,961 in USDT (Tether), described as proceeds of cryptocurrency investment fraud and money laundering. At the time of filing, the DOJ characterized this as the largest-ever U.S. seizure of funds linked to crypto confidence schemes and the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history. The complaint was filed after Tether froze the funds and notified the U.S. Secret Service, which then executed the seizure in coordination with the FBI. Interim U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro stated that officials intended to use seized funds to compensate victims. No individual defendants were named in the civil forfeiture complaint; the action targeted the assets themselves. Note: The task prompt describes this action as an 'August 2026' filing, but all primary and secondary sources consistently date the complaint to June 18, 2025. No verifiable evidence of a distinct August 2026 $225 million civil forfeiture action was found in exhaustive web searches.","heading":"Overview and Filing","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ seizes record $225 million in crypto tied to global pig butchering scams — NBC News","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/doj-seizes-record-225-million-crypto-tied-global-pig-butchering-scams-rcna213790"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Justice Dept. Files to Seize Record $225 Million Tied to Pig Butchering Crypto Scams — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/325882/justice-dept-seize-record-225-million-pig-butchering-crypto-scams"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DOJ Files To Seize $225M In Crypto Tied To Pig Butchering Schemes — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/justice-department-seize-crypto-pig-butchering"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DOJ Ties Kansas Bank Collapse to $225 Million Pig Butchering Seizure — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/06/18/doj-ties-kansas-bank-collapse-to-225-million-pig-butchering-seizure"}]},{"content":"The civil forfeiture complaint alleged that victims were lured through fake social media profiles and fabricated personal relationships before being directed to fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms that displayed false profits. This method is commonly referred to as 'pig butchering' — a term describing how scammers 'fatten' victims' apparent portfolio balances before stealing all assets. Investigators traced 93 scam-controlled deposit addresses back to a compound in Manila, Philippines, linked to an entity named ITECHNO Specialist Inc., according to reporting by Fortune. The complaint identified more than 430 victims worldwide, including at least 60 confirmed U.S. victims who collectively lost approximately $19.4 million. A notable victim was Shan Hanes, the former CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, Kansas, who embezzled $47.1 million of bank funds and sent them to the scam operation, contributing to the bank's July 2023 collapse. Hanes was convicted and sentenced to 24 years in federal prison in August 2024. The relationship between the Philippines-based compound identified in this case and the Myanmar- and Cambodia-based compounds targeted in separate Scam Center Strike Force actions has not been established in publicly available sources.","heading":"The Scam Operation and Compound","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ seizes $225 million stolen through crypto pig butchering schemes linked to Philippines scam compound — Fortune","type":"news_article","url":"https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/06/18/doj-225-million-phillipines-scam-compound-usdt-pig-butchering/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Crypto Scam by Disgraced CEO Leads to DOJ Forfeiture of $225M — 99Bitcoins","type":"news_article","url":"https://99bitcoins.com/news/doj-files-225m-civil-forfeiture-case-linked-to-crypto-scam-perpetrated-by-disgraced-ceo-shan-hanes/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The $225 Million Crypto Seizure: A Landmark in Pig Butchering Scam Combat — Baker McKenzie","type":"research","url":"https://blockchain.bakermckenzie.com/2025/07/01/the-225-million-crypto-seizure-a-landmark-in-pig-butchering-scam-combat/"}]},{"content":"The complaint described a sophisticated blockchain-based money laundering network that executed hundreds of thousands of transactions to obscure the origin of funds. According to TRM Labs' analysis, the network used peel chains, structured hops, and cross-chain swaps across the Ethereum, Bitcoin, and TRON networks. The funds were consolidated through approximately 100 intermediary wallets into seven primary USDT wallet groups (labeled A through G in the complaint), ranging from approximately $3 million to $135 million each. The government identified 144 accounts on the crypto exchange OKX as connected to the scheme, linked by shared Vietnamese KYC documents, overlapping Philippine IP addresses, and coordinated activity patterns. OKX cooperated with the investigation, assisting in identifying accounts and freezing assets. Over a one-year period, the 144 accounts deposited approximately $3 billion in cryptocurrency, of which the $225.3 million targeted by the complaint represents alleged fraud proceeds. Tether, the issuer of USDT, assisted authorities by freezing the tokens, destroying them, and reissuing equivalent amounts to government wallets — a mechanism that has been used in numerous pig-butchering enforcement actions.","heading":"Money Laundering Infrastructure","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"US DOJ Announces Largest Ever Seizure of Funds Related to Crypto Scams — TRM Labs","type":"research","url":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/us-doj-announces-largest-ever-seizure-of-funds-related-to-crypto-scams"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Pig-Butchering Scams and the Limits and Promise of Civil Forfeiture — Lawfare","type":"research","url":"https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/pig-butchering-scams-and-the-limits-and-promise-of-civil-forfeiture"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Tether Acknowledged by DOJ for Support in $61 Million Seizure Linked to Pig Butchering Fraud — Tether.io","type":"official","url":"https://tether.io/news/tether-acknowledged-by-doj-for-support-in-61-million-seizure-linked-to-pig-butchering-fraud/"}]},{"content":"The $225 million civil forfeiture was a foundational action for the DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force, announced November 12, 2025, as a multi-agency initiative targeting Chinese transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) operating pig-butchering compounds across Southeast Asia. The Strike Force is composed of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, FBI, U.S. Secret Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation. By February 26, 2026, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the Strike Force had frozen, seized, and forfeited over $580 million in cryptocurrency in under three months of formal operation. On April 23, 2026, the Strike Force announced major actions against the Shunda compound in Min Let Pan, Burma — charging two Chinese nationals, Huang Xingshan (also known as 'Ah Zhe') and Jiang Wen Jie (also known as 'Jiang Nan'), with wire fraud conspiracy. That action restrained $701.96 million in cryptocurrency linked to money laundering, seized 503 fraudulent investment websites, and reviewed evidence from 8,000 phones and 1,500 computers seized from the compound. Crypto Times reported in May 2026 that the first four months of 2026 produced more enforcement action against pig-butchering operations than the entire preceding decade. The FBI's Operation Level Up, active since January 2024, had by March 2026 notified 8,935 fraud victims and estimated it prevented approximately $562 million in losses.","heading":"Scam Center Strike Force and 2026 Enforcement Context","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"D.C. Scam Center Strike Force Seizures of Cryptocurrency from Chinese Transnational Criminals Tops $580 Million — U.S. Secret Service","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.secretservice.gov/newsroom/releases/2026/02/dc-scam-center-strike-force-seizures-cryptocurrency-chinese-transnational"},{"credibility":1,"name":"D.C. Scam Center Strike Force Seizures of Cryptocurrency from Chinese Transnational Criminals Tops $580 Million — IRS","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/dc-scam-center-strike-force-seizures-of-cryptocurrency-from-chinese-transnational-criminals-tops-580-million"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Scam Center Strike Force Takes Major Actions Against Southeast Asian Scam Centers — DOJ Office of Public Affairs","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/scam-center-strike-force-takes-major-actions-against-southeast-asian-scam-centers-targeting"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The 2026 Pig Butchering Reckoning: Inside the Year's Biggest Crypto Scam Crackdowns — CryptoTimes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/05/05/2026-pig-butchering-crypto-scam-crackdowns/"}]},{"content":"Multiple enforcement actions and independent analyses have documented a network of forced-labor scam compounds operating across Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, and Laos, primarily under the direction of Chinese organized crime syndicates. These compounds recruit workers — often through fraudulent job advertisements — and, according to U.S. and U.K. authorities, confiscate their passports, hold them under guard, and compel them to execute pig-butchering scams under threat of violence. The UN has estimated that approximately 300,000 individuals are held in coercive conditions across Southeast Asian scam compounds; other estimates cited in 2026 enforcement reporting placed the figure as high as 200,000. In Myanmar, the Shunda compound in Min Let Pan and the Tai Chang compound have been specifically named in DOJ proceedings. The Tai Chang compound is affiliated with the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) and Trans Asia International Holding Group Thailand Company Limited, both designated by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control as Specially Designated Nationals for their links to Chinese organized crime. In Cambodia, the largest single operation dismantled to date was Prince Group, whose chairman Chen Zhi was indicted by the U.S. in October 2025. Chen was arrested by Cambodian police on January 6, 2026, had his Cambodian citizenship revoked by royal decree, and was extradited to China — reportedly thwarting U.S. extradition efforts. The Huione Group, a Cambodia-based conglomerate, processed an estimated $98 billion in cryptocurrency inflows over 4.5 years and was alleged by FinCEN to have laundered over $4 billion in illicit proceeds before FinCEN moved to sever it from the U.S. financial system in October 2025. The Philippines-based compound implicated in the $225 million civil forfeiture complaint (ITECHNO Specialist Inc., Manila) represents a distinct geographic node from the Myanmar and Cambodia compounds that have been the primary focus of subsequent 2026 Strike Force enforcement.","heading":"Southeast Asian Scam Compound Infrastructure","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Chairman of Prince Group Indicted for Operating Cambodian Forced Labor Scam Compounds — DOJ Office of Public Affairs","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chairman-prince-group-indicted-operating-cambodian-forced-labor-scam-compounds-engaged"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Feds seize $15 billion in crypto from pig butchering scam — CNN","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/politics/cryptocurrency-investment-scheme-charges-forced-labor-camps"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Historic U.S.-U.K. Operation Targets Southeast Asia's Scam Compounds with Record $15 Billion Bitcoin Seizure — TRM Labs","type":"research","url":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/historic-u-s--u-k-operation-targets-southeast-asias-scam-compounds-with-record-15-billion-bitcoin-seizure"},{"credibility":2,"name":"U.S. Crackdown on Southeast Asian Crypto Scam Centers — Chainalysis","type":"research","url":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/asian-scam-centers-crypto-fraud-april-2026/"}]},{"content":"Civil forfeiture in pig-butchering cases presents structural challenges for victim recovery. An analysis published by Lawfare identified 81 civil forfeiture actions through March 2026 and found that among 51 concluded cases, 42 resulted in complete forfeiture to the U.S. government with only 8 cases involving any victim participation in the claims process. The DOJ has stated its intention to return seized funds to victims, and U.S. Attorney Pirro reiterated this commitment in the $225 million filing. However, foreign victims face significant barriers including difficulty learning about proceedings, challenges navigating the remission process, and regulatory discretion allowing the DOJ to deny claims when victim pools are large or administrative costs are substantial. The $225.3 million target amount does not represent the total loss to victims in the underlying scheme; the 144 OKX accounts processed approximately $3 billion in total deposits, far exceeding the forfeiture amount. The gap between total losses and recovered amounts is characteristic of pig-butchering enforcement across the board: typical civil forfeiture actions recover a fraction of victim losses, and the $225 million action — while a record at the time — represents a fraction of the estimated $17 billion in global crypto scam losses reported in 2025.","heading":"Victim Restitution and Civil Forfeiture Limitations","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Pig-Butchering Scams and the Limits and Promise of Civil Forfeiture — Lawfare","type":"research","url":"https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/pig-butchering-scams-and-the-limits-and-promise-of-civil-forfeiture"},{"credibility":2,"name":"As Authorities Crack Down on Scam Compounds, Victims Are Getting Left Behind — TechPolicy.Press","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.techpolicy.press/as-authorities-crack-down-on-scam-compounds-victims-are-getting-left-behind/"}]},{"content":"The civil forfeiture complaint (case 25-cv-1907) filed in June 2025 was, at the time, the record-largest U.S. pig-butchering seizure. That record was surpassed in October 2025 when the DOJ filed forfeiture proceedings targeting approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (valued at approximately $15 billion) in the Prince Group case — the largest forfeiture action in DOJ history overall. By the time of this writing (August 2026), no court ruling on the merits of the $225 million civil forfeiture has been publicly reported; proceedings of this type can take months to years to conclude, and the status of victim remission distributions from the seized USDT has not been confirmed in publicly available sources. No criminal charges arising directly from the conduct alleged in complaint 25-cv-1907 have been identified in this investigation. The investigation remains ongoing, according to DOJ statements at the time of filing.","heading":"Status of the Case and Superseding Actions","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"DOJ Seizes $15 Billion in Bitcoin in Cryptocurrency Fraud Scheme — ArentFox Schiff","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.afslaw.com/perspectives/investigations-blog/doj-seizes-15-billion-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-fraud-scheme"},{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ seizes $15 billion in bitcoin from massive pig butchering scam based in Cambodia — CNBC","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-butchering-scam.html"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ seizes record $225 million in crypto tied to global pig butchering scams — NBC News","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/doj-seizes-record-225-million-crypto-tied-global-pig-butchering-scams-rcna213790"},{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ seizes $225 million stolen through crypto pig butchering schemes linked to Philippines scam compound — Fortune","type":"news_article","url":"https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/06/18/doj-225-million-phillipines-scam-compound-usdt-pig-butchering/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DOJ Ties Kansas Bank Collapse to $225 Million Pig Butchering Seizure — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2025/06/18/doj-ties-kansas-bank-collapse-to-225-million-pig-butchering-seizure"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DOJ Files To Seize $225M In Crypto Tied To Pig Butchering Schemes — CoinTelegraph","type":"news_article","url":"https://cointelegraph.com/news/justice-department-seize-crypto-pig-butchering"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Justice Dept. Files to Seize Record $225 Million Tied to Pig Butchering Crypto Scams — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/325882/justice-dept-seize-record-225-million-pig-butchering-crypto-scams"},{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ announces largest-ever crypto seizure related to pig butchering scams — The Hill","type":"news_article","url":"https://thehill.com/business/5358442-doj-crypto-seizure-pig-butchering-scams/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DOJ Seizing Record $225 Million in Illicit Cryptocurrency after Investment Scams — FEDagent","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.fedagent.com/news/doj-seizing-record-225-million-in-illicit-cryptocurrency-after-investment-scams"},{"credibility":2,"name":"US DOJ Announces Largest Ever Seizure of Funds Related to Crypto Scams — TRM Labs","type":"research","url":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/us-doj-announces-largest-ever-seizure-of-funds-related-to-crypto-scams"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The $225 Million Crypto Seizure: A Landmark in Pig Butchering Scam Combat — Baker McKenzie","type":"research","url":"https://blockchain.bakermckenzie.com/2025/07/01/the-225-million-crypto-seizure-a-landmark-in-pig-butchering-scam-combat/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Pig-Butchering Scams and the Limits and Promise of Civil Forfeiture — Lawfare","type":"research","url":"https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/pig-butchering-scams-and-the-limits-and-promise-of-civil-forfeiture"},{"credibility":1,"name":"D.C. Scam Center Strike Force Seizures of Cryptocurrency from Chinese Transnational Criminals Tops $580 Million — U.S. Secret Service","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.secretservice.gov/newsroom/releases/2026/02/dc-scam-center-strike-force-seizures-cryptocurrency-chinese-transnational"},{"credibility":1,"name":"D.C. Scam Center Strike Force Seizures of Cryptocurrency from Chinese Transnational Criminals Tops $580 Million — IRS","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/dc-scam-center-strike-force-seizures-of-cryptocurrency-from-chinese-transnational-criminals-tops-580-million"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Scam Center Strike Force Takes Major Actions Against Southeast Asian Scam Centers — DOJ Office of Public Affairs","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/scam-center-strike-force-takes-major-actions-against-southeast-asian-scam-centers-targeting"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Chairman of Prince Group Indicted for Operating Cambodian Forced Labor Scam Compounds — DOJ","type":"regulatory","url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chairman-prince-group-indicted-operating-cambodian-forced-labor-scam-compounds-engaged"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Feds seize $15 billion in crypto from pig butchering scam — CNN","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/politics/cryptocurrency-investment-scheme-charges-forced-labor-camps"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Historic U.S.-U.K. Operation Targets Southeast Asia's Scam Compounds with Record $15 Billion Bitcoin Seizure — TRM Labs","type":"research","url":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/historic-u-s--u-k-operation-targets-southeast-asias-scam-compounds-with-record-15-billion-bitcoin-seizure"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The 2026 Pig Butchering Reckoning: Inside the Year's Biggest Crypto Scam Crackdowns — CryptoTimes","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/05/05/2026-pig-butchering-crypto-scam-crackdowns/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Scam Center Strike Force: A Whole-of-Government Response to Global Crypto Fraud — TRM Labs","type":"research","url":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/the-scam-center-strike-force-a-whole-of-government-response-to-global-crypto-fraud"},{"credibility":2,"name":"U.S. Crackdown on Southeast Asian Crypto Scam Centers — Chainalysis","type":"research","url":"https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/asian-scam-centers-crypto-fraud-april-2026/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"As Authorities Crack Down on Scam Compounds, Victims Are Getting Left Behind — TechPolicy.Press","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.techpolicy.press/as-authorities-crack-down-on-scam-compounds-victims-are-getting-left-behind/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Crypto pig butchering kingpin who lost $15bn in Bitcoin to US gov arrested in Cambodia — DL News","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/people-culture/prince-group-chen-zhi-arrested-in-cambodia-after-doj-seizes-bitcoin/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"DOJ Sues $25M in USDT Tied to Pig-Butchering Rings — ScamWatchHQ","type":"news_article","url":"https://scamwatchhq.com/doj-25-million-usdt-civil-forfeiture-suing-the-money-2026/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"DOJ seizes $15 billion in bitcoin from massive pig butchering scam in Cambodia — CNBC","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/14/bitcoin-doj-chen-zhi-pig-butchering-scam.html"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Crypto Scam by Disgraced CEO Leads to DOJ Forfeiture of $225M — 99Bitcoins","type":"news_article","url":"https://99bitcoins.com/news/doj-files-225m-civil-forfeiture-case-linked-to-crypto-scam-perpetrated-by-disgraced-ceo-shan-hanes/"}],"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.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-07-01","event":"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.","source":"Fortune","source_url":"https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/06/18/doj-225-million-phillipines-scam-compound-usdt-pig-butchering/"},{"date":"2023-06-01","event":"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.","source":"TRM Labs","source_url":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/us-doj-announces-largest-ever-seizure-of-funds-related-to-crypto-scams"},{"date":"2024-08-01","event":"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.","source":"Fortune","source_url":"https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/06/18/doj-225-million-phillipines-scam-compound-usdt-pig-butchering/"},{"date":"2025-06-18","event":"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.","source":"NBC News","source_url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/doj-seizes-record-225-million-crypto-tied-global-pig-butchering-scams-rcna213790"},{"date":"2025-10-14","event":"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.","source":"CNN","source_url":"https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/politics/cryptocurrency-investment-scheme-charges-forced-labor-camps"},{"date":"2025-11-12","event":"DOJ formally launches the Scam Center Strike Force, a multi-agency initiative targeting Chinese transnational criminal organizations operating pig-butchering compounds in Southeast Asia.","source":"TRM Labs","source_url":"https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/the-scam-center-strike-force-a-whole-of-government-response-to-global-crypto-fraud"},{"date":"2026-01-06","event":"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.","source":"DL News","source_url":"https://www.dlnews.com/articles/people-culture/prince-group-chen-zhi-arrested-in-cambodia-after-doj-seizes-bitcoin/"},{"date":"2026-02-26","event":"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.","source":"U.S. Secret Service","source_url":"https://www.secretservice.gov/newsroom/releases/2026/02/dc-scam-center-strike-force-seizures-cryptocurrency-chinese-transnational"},{"date":"2026-04-23","event":"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.","source":"DOJ Office of Public Affairs","source_url":"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/scam-center-strike-force-takes-major-actions-against-southeast-asian-scam-centers-targeting"},{"date":"2026-07-21","event":"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.","source":"ScamWatchHQ","source_url":"https://scamwatchhq.com/doj-25-million-usdt-civil-forfeiture-suing-the-money-2026/"}]},"v":1}

   Verify offline (run on your own machine)

   python -m src.verify_decision f2834b2a-528c-421b-b8cd-5b9a7467fb63copy