The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has initiated a civil forfeiture complaint to recover approximately 225.4 million USDT, which is allegedly linked to cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering activities.
According to the detailed filing, an organized network was reportedly used to launder funds from victims through various blockchain addresses and 144 accounts on the OKX exchange before consolidating them into seven USDT token groups. Investigators state that the U.S. Secret Service and FBI employed blockchain analysis, with assistance from Tether, to identify, freeze, and seize these assets. The case underscores the importance of deterrence, interagency collaboration, and pathways for restitution in line with federal asset recovery practices.
The complaint outlines the scale and methodology involved: approximately 434 suspected victims were identified, with around 60 interviewed victims confirming losses totaling about $19 million. An estimated $2.94 billion was moved across the OKX-linked network through roughly 263,000 deposits involving 35 intermediary addresses. This culminated in a seizure warrant issued on May 1, 2025, targeting a sum of 225,364,961 USDT. The volume and rapid "layering" are cited as indicators of concealment money laundering.
External benchmarks highlight the urgency of addressing such crimes. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported nearly $7 billion in losses due to confidence and investment scams in 2024 alone, including approximately $5.8 billion related to cryptocurrency investment fraud. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) red-flag typologies describe patterns such as frequent small transfers and immediate withdrawals to unhosted wallets—patterns that align with allegations in this filing.
OKX is a major global cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 firm that offers spot and derivatives markets alongside an on-chain wallet service. Its operator, Aux Cayes FinTech Co., pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court on February 24, 2025, to anti-money-laundering violations related to facilitating U.S.-based trading and processing criminal proceeds. The court imposed nearly $505 million in fines and forfeitures while mandating an external compliance consultant until February 2027. Prosecutors indicated that over $5 billion in suspicious transactions passed through the platform from 2018 to early 2024.