ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, a complaint submitted by the U.S. Department of Justice shows that former CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank, Shan Hanes, embezzled $47.1 million in 2023, leading to the bank's collapse and funneling most of the funds to scammers promising cryptocurrency wealth. The DOJ traced $225 million in "laundered" USDT and a total transaction volume of $3 billion related to a Manila scam network, involving 237 OKX accounts and 434 victims. Shan Hanes has been identified as one of the largest victims in the network, and the cryptocurrency seized by the DOJ may be added to the federal digital asset reserve established by President Trump’s order.The scammers laundered money by first directing victims to send USDT to 93 deposit addresses controlled by the scam group. Subsequently, the funds were transferred through up to 100 intermediary wallets, a process designed to obscure the source of the funds and confuse deposits from multiple victims.

ChainCatcher news, on-chain analysis company Chainalysis stated that the recent shutdown of the illegal online trading platform Haowang Guarantee has not fundamentally impacted the growing cryptocurrency scam network.Chainalysis pointed out that merchants providing criminal tools for crypto scammers are spread across multiple platforms, and even if a single platform is shut down, the relevant customers can quickly adapt and move.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, European law enforcement agencies have dismantled a cryptocurrency fraud network spanning Serbia, Germany, Cyprus, and Bulgaria. It is reported that the network has defrauded victims of tens of millions of euros through call centers.It is understood that after the investigation into the case was launched by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation and Europol in 2021, 14 suspects were arrested in Serbia and 1 in Germany.According to the announcement, the seized assets include 150 computers, three cars, two luxury apartments, $1 million worth of cryptocurrency, and €50,000 in cash. The victims of this case are distributed across Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Australia, and Canada. Law enforcement agencies stated that they are "almost certain" that the currently known amount of fraud is just the "tip of the iceberg."According to Bulgarian news media Free Europe, citing a spokesperson for the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office, there is no connection between this case and the raid on the cryptocurrency lending institution Nexo. (The Block)