DOJ $25M Pig Butchering Seizure (July 2026)
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anchored·rmm9Uw…BriZSummary
On July 21, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, operating through the Scam Center Strike Force, filed five civil forfeiture complaints targeting more than $25 million in USDT linked to international pig-butchering fraud rings operating primarily from Southeast Asia. The complaints identify hundreds of U.S. and Canadian victims across romance scams, fake cryptocurrency investment platforms, and fraudulent asset-recovery services, with no individual defendants named. This action is part of a broader 2026 enforcement surge that includes a $61 million USDT seizure in North Carolina, Treasury sanctions against Cambodian Senator Kok An and his Crown Resorts compound network, and a Dubai-led international operation resulting in 276 arrests and $701 million frozen.
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- Under reviewincriminatingWayback pending7/30/2026, 4:12:44 PM
“[Scout] The DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force filed five civil forfeiture complaints on July 21, 2026 targeting $25M+ linked to romance scams (~200 victims, $12.1M), fake investment platforms (~270 victims, $10.”
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Timeline(15 events)
2024
FBI launches Operation Level Up, a proactive victim-intervention initiative to identify and contact active pig-butchering victims before losses are completed.
FBI official pageNovember 2024
Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2540 (MicMarkets Platform) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.
Armstrong & Bradylyons PLLC case analysis2025
Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2542 ($78 million network) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.
Armstrong & Bradylyons PLLC case analysisMay 2025
U.S. Treasury proposes Section 311 action against Huione Group for laundering at least $4 billion in illicit proceeds including pig-butchering proceeds.
Elliptic blogJuly 2025
Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2539 (Zoomex Spoof) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.
Armstrong & Bradylyons PLLC case analysis16 October 2025
FinCEN issues final Section 311 rule barring U.S. financial institutions from transacting with Huione Group, effective November 17, 2025.
Federal Register12 November 2025
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.
Foley and Lardner legal alert2026
UK National Crime Agency refers the victims later named in Case 26-cv-2541 (Recovery Fraud) to U.S. authorities.
Armstrong & Bradylyons PLLC case analysis24 February 2026
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.
TRM Labs blog16 March 2026
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.
CryptoTimes: 2026 Pig Butchering Crypto Scam Crackdowns23 April 2026
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.
U.S. Department of the Treasury press release29 April 2026
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.
CryptoTimes: 2026 Pig Butchering Crackdowns3 June 2026
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.
DOJ Office of Public Affairs27 May 2026
Addresses later named in Case 26-cv-2543 (National Capital Region) are frozen by Tether at law enforcement request.
Armstrong & Bradylyons PLLC case analysis21 July 2026
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.
DOJ Press ReleaseDecision Log
- hash: 7edTgk3oT4kHi1Q79yDTsQw3RX6NFutjYUdrKyPCRFxs
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 21 of 21 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 7/26/2026, 11:12:51 PM
last updated: 7/27/2026, 11:33:39 PM
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