According to TechFlow, on October 5, Bitcoin.comNews reported that the U.S. government is taking legal action to seek to confiscate 200,000 USDTs related to a major cryptocurrency fraud case, worth $200,000. These funds are derived from the conversion of stolen Bitcoins and may be returned to victims in Ohio after the confiscation trial.

The case stems from a scam in February 2024 in which approximately $340,000 worth of Bitcoin was illegally transferred from the virtual currency wallet of a resident of Ashtabula, Ohio. The investigation showed that the criminals converted the stolen Bitcoin into USDT. Law enforcement officers used blockchain technology to track the illegal funds and found that approximately $200,000 of the stolen funds flowed to two Ethereum-based addresses. Tether froze these USDT tokens in March 2024.

In July 2024, the tokens were transferred to a virtual wallet controlled by law enforcement pursuant to a federal seizure warrant. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it would seek to return the funds to victims in Ohio if the forfeiture is successful.