DOJ Seeks Civil Forfeiture of Over $25M in Crypto Tied to Global Fraud and Laundering Rings

The US Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture action aimed at recovering more than $25 million in cryptocurrency it says is linked to international fraud and money-laundering networks. The filing comes as crypto-related crime continues to surge. DOJ data show victims lost more than $7.2 billion to crypto scams in 2025 alone, underscoring the scale of the problem relative to the $25 million now in the government's sights. The case follows a major action in June 2025, when the DOJ brought a civil forfeiture complaint targeting more than $225 million in tokens tied to cryptocurrency investment fraud. The department said that matter marked the largest seizure of its kind ever carried out by the US Secret Service. A key driver of these efforts has been the Scam Center Strike Force, a DOJ-affiliated task force focused on fraud operations based in Southeast Asia. The group has repeatedly frozen millions in tokens connected to schemes operating from the region, where large-scale fraud compounds have been widely reported. In the latest $25 million action, the DOJ has not publicly identified defendants, wallet addresses, or the specific tokens involved. Such cases often move forward without naming individuals, especially early on as investigators trace the broader network. Civil forfeiture in crypto typically targets the asset rather than a person. Prosecutors file a complaint against the tokens, argue they represent proceeds of crime, and ask a federal court to transfer ownership to the government. Blockchain analytics firms are central to these cases, using transaction-tracing tools to link wallets to known fraud addresses, exchanges, or mixers. The DOJ has leaned heavily on this capability in recent matters, and the June 2025 $225 million case highlighted how advanced on-chain tracing has become. Fraud rings operating out of Southeast Asia, often described as 'pig butchering' scams, have emerged as a major source of large-scale global crypto losses. These schemes typically involve building relationships with victims online over time, then directing them to fake investment platforms. Victims send real crypto, the platforms are fictitious, and funds are rapidly moved through layered wallets—a dynamic that has made on-chain forensics increasingly important for federal investigators.