U.S. Attorney Files Civil Forfeiture to Recover $327K USDT in Massachusetts Romance Fraud Case
The United States Attorney’s Office has filed a civil forfeiture action to recover 327,829.720952 USDT (Tether), a form of cryptocurrency alleged to be involved in a money laundering scheme. The funds are believed to conceal proceeds originating from an online romance fraud scheme targeting a Massachusetts resident. The cryptocurrency currently holds an estimated value of approximately $327,829.
According to court documents, the investigation into the online romance fraud scheme began in Fall 2024. In November 2024, a Massachusetts resident was approached on an online dating application. After communicating for several weeks, an individual using the name “Linda Brown” presented the victim with a cryptocurrency investment opportunity.
Under the guise of legitimately investing the victim’s money, Brown allegedly tricked the victim into sending funds to wallets controlled by Brown and/or their co-conspirators. The victim discovered the investment was a scam after unsuccessfully attempting to withdraw their money.
The complaint alleges that victim funds were transferred through multiple intermediary wallets. Additionally, the cryptocurrency was converted from one type to USDT, tactics typically used by money launderers to conceal the true origin of victim funds and ill-gotten gains.
Some of the victim’s funds were traced to multiple unhosted cryptocurrency wallets, which were seized in August 2025. The complaint alleges that all cryptocurrency associated with those wallets was property involved in money laundering.
Conducting a financial transaction knowing that it is designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of criminal proceeds is a violation of federal law. A civil forfeiture action allows third parties to assert claims to property, which must be resolved before the property can be forfeited to the United States and returned to victims.
This case marks one of several civil forfeiture actions the U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed seeking to forfeit cryptocurrency traced to fraud schemes targeting Massachusetts victims.
