In December 2024, part of the main assets of an oil storage company was seized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The company had told people that if they invested money, it would be used to buy oil storage tanks, which would then be rented out to make big profits. But instead of doing that, they took the money from investors and converted it into cryptocurrency.
Recently, federal prosecutors in Seattle have filed a case in court asking to seize $7.1 million worth of crypto related to this scam so that it can be returned to the victims.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle said on Tuesday that they have already filed a civil case to seize a total of $97 million, which was collected through this fraud between June 2022 and July 2024.
Seattle’s Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said, The people involved in this fraud tried to move the stolen money through different crypto accounts to hide it. This made the transactions look suspicious.”
Her office also said that some of the crypto accounts they want to seize belong to people living in Russia and Nigeria who were involved in the fraud.
These people received a portion of the stolen money. They used the victims’ money to buy crypto and then sent part of it to exchanges in their own countries.
Accused and Arrested
One of the main suspects is Geoffrey Awueng. He is believed to have helped in money laundering for an international criminal group.
He has already been charged, and $2.3 million was seized from his bank account. Geoffrey Awueng was charged in August 2024.
According to the charges, he received most of the stolen funds. He used the stolen money to buy BTC, USDT, USDC, ETH, and sent most of it to the Binance exchange.
When he was arrested, U.S. authorities seized nearly $2.3 million from his bank account.
Prosecutors said they have already identified fraud victims who lost a total of $17.9 million, and more names may come after proper verification. These victims will be given compensation later.
If the court approves the seizure of $7.1 million, the total recovered amount will be $9.4 million, which will be distributed among the victims.
Conclusion
Before investing, every investor should have a clear understanding of the project. Instead of being overly excited, it is important to carefully check and verify everything before making an investment.
Remember, scammers are getting smarter every day. So, we must be very careful and stay smarter than them. Otherwise, there is a risk of losing all the invested money. You are the one who has to protect your own money.
