U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced the recovery of $700 million from Chinese cryptocurrency scammers and efforts to return it to its American victims.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced in Washington, D.C., on Thursday that $700 million seized from Chinese cryptocurrency scammers will be returned to American victims. The funds, which had been restrained to prevent further movement within blockchain systems, are now being processed for redistribution. 📺 DETAIL: U.S. Attorney Pirro outlined a series of coordinated actions by the Scam Center Strike Force against scam centers in Southeast Asia, including criminal charges against two Chinese nationals managing a cryptocurrency fraud compound in Burma. $700 million in stolen assets have been secured, but while the funds are safe, distributing them will take time. Pirro said the department remains committed to reuniting victims with their stolen money following verification. “It is a long and rigorous process to get that money into the hands of those victims that they belong to. We’re on it,” Pirro said. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “We have charged the Chinese bosses who ran a scam compound in Burma, where trafficked workers were beaten and forced to steal from Americans. We have seized a Telegram channel that was luring workers into a forced labor compound in Cambodia where they were ordered to pose as U.S. banks and NYPD to steal Americans’ life savings.” – Jeanine Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. 🎯 IMPACT: The return of these funds could provide financial relief to victims of sophisticated crypto scams, though the process is expected to take significant time due to the complexities of identifying rightful recipients. Notably, the case reflects only a small part of the crypto scam industry that is stealing Americans’ wealth. In 2023 alone, the FBI estimated that Americans lost as much as $5.6 billion to crypto scammers. |
.@USAttyPirro: We’ve charged Chinese bosses who ran a scam compound in Burma, where thousands were trafficked, enslaved and forced to steal from Americans. We’ve also seized a Telegram channel which lured workers into a compound in Cambodia and ordered them to pose as U.S. banks… pic.twitter.com/92MqHMkgJl
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 23, 2026
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