Overview
- Federal prosecutors in Boston filed a civil forfeiture action seeking 327,829.720952 USDT tied to a 2024 romance-investment fraud.
- The complaint says a scammer using the alias “Linda Brown” met a Massachusetts resident on a dating app and persuaded the victim to send money for a fake crypto investment.
- Investigators traced the victim’s funds as they moved through multiple wallets and were converted to USDT, with some unhosted wallets seized in August 2025.
- The filing alleges the cryptocurrency linked to the seized wallets constitutes property involved in money laundering.
- Prosecutors note civil forfeiture allows third-party claims and requires proof by a preponderance of the evidence, as officials warn of rising “pig-butchering” scams and Tether reports freezing about $4.2 billion in USDT tied to suspected crime since 2023.