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The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture action on Monday seeking to recover 327,829.72 USDT, alleging the funds were involved in a money laundering scheme connected to an online romance scam.
According to the complaint filed in federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice is pursuing forfeiture of the cryptocurrency as defendant property. The government alleges the USDT represents proceeds of fraud and money laundering.
The filing seeks to recover approximately $327,829 in USDT linked to a romance fraud and money-laundering scheme.
The complaint states that the stolen funds originated from a Massachusetts resident who was targeted in late 2024 on a dating app. The fraudster, identified only by an alias, allegedly convinced the victim to send money for purported cryptocurrency investments that did not exist.
Instead of investing the funds, the scammers allegedly routed the money through a series of cryptocurrency wallets and converted it to USDT, a stablecoin commonly used to obscure the origin and movement of illicit proceeds.
Several of the wallets referenced in the complaint were seized by law enforcement in August 2025, after blockchain analysis traced connections to the scam.
Under U.S. civil forfeiture law, property traceable to illegal activity may be seized by the government and ultimately returned to victims if the court determines it is proceeds of crime. The Justice Department’s action also allows third parties with a legitimate interest in the property to file claims before any forfeiture is finalized.
Prosecutors said the forfeiture complaint is part of broader efforts to target online frauds, including romance scams, investment schemes, and cyber-enabled financial crime that increasingly uses cryptocurrency to move and hide funds.
The case highlights the alleged sophistication of crypto-related fraud and the government’s use of blockchain analysis to trace and reclaim stolen digital assets for fraud victims.
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