North Carolina prosecutors seize $61 million USDT, involved in "pig butchering" scams

Odaily reported that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced the seizure of over $61 million worth of USDT, with the funds linked to a large-scale crypto investment scam network known as "pig butchering."

The statement said that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) tracked the flow of victim funds, identified multiple cryptocurrency wallet addresses suspected of being used for money laundering, and implemented seizure and forfeiture actions against accounts still holding substantial balances. Court documents show that scammers gained victims' trust by establishing fake romantic relationships, then lured them into participating in fraudulent high-yield crypto investment platforms, and imposed additional "taxes" or restrictions when withdrawals were attempted.

Prosecutors stated that this case is one of several recent crypto asset forfeiture actions. In January this year, the U.S. Department of Justice also announced the forfeiture of approximately $400 million in assets related to the darknet mixing platform Helix. (The Block)