The U.S. Secret Service plans to seize $225.3 million in crypto assets from a crypto fraud and money laundering network, breaking the record for the highest single recovery amount.

BlockBeats News, June 19th, according to an official announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice's U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit in federal court, seeking to seize over $225.3 million worth of cryptocurrency. The indictment reveals that the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, utilizing blockchain analysis and other techniques, traced this cryptocurrency back to funds connected with "pig butchering" schemes and other crypto investment fraud involving theft and money laundering activities.

The indictment alleges that the cryptocurrency addresses involved formed a complex on-chain money laundering network, executing hundreds of thousands of transactions designed to obscure the origins and flow of the fraudulently obtained funds. Fraudsters used a large number of crypto addresses and accounts to spread the funds across different wallets, creating a fog of transactions. The investigation has identified dozens of victims in the U.S. who fell prey to fake investment platforms, with suspected global victims exceeding 400 people. Individual losses in some cases reached millions of dollars.

The Secret Service's San Francisco division noted that this case marks the largest single cryptocurrency recovery in the agency's 160-year history. The case is being led by the Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, with stablecoin issuer Tether providing proactive assistance during the investigation.