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: The U.S. Department of Justice today filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accusing it of seizing cryptocurrency valued at over $225.3 million.According to the lawsuit, law enforcement used blockchain analysis and other investigative techniques to determine that this cryptocurrency is related to the theft and money laundering activities involving funds from victims of cryptocurrency investment scams.The complaint states that the cryptocurrency address holding over $225.3 million is part of a complex blockchain-based money laundering network that executed hundreds of thousands of transactions and was used to disperse the proceeds of cryptocurrency investment fraud across many cryptocurrency addresses and accounts on the blockchain to conceal the source of the illegally obtained funds.It is reported that trial attorneys Stefanie Schwartz and Ethan Cantor from the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) of the U.S. Department of Justice, along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Rosenberg and Rick Blaylock Jr. from the District of Columbia, are handling this case.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Straits Times, the Singapore Police Force reported that its Anti-Scam Command collaborated with the cryptocurrency platform StraitsX to conduct a joint enforcement operation from May 13 to 30, targeting money laundering activities using cryptocurrency. During the operation, over 200,000 Singapore dollars in cash were seized, and 35 men and 14 women are assisting with investigations, aged between 18 and 58.Preliminary investigations indicate that these individuals are suspected of allowing others to use their cryptocurrency accounts or Singpass accounts in exchange for rewards ranging from 400 to 3,000 dollars, with the related accounts suspected of being used for money laundering. The police noted that most suspects contacted unknown individuals via Telegram or WhatsApp and provided personal information as instructed.The police emphasized that collaborating with StraitsX, which is registered as a legitimate digital payment provider, helps leverage technological solutions to detect suspicious accounts and take swift action. Under Singapore's Prevention of Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Serious Crimes Act, assisting others in retaining criminal proceeds can result in a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of 50,000 dollars, or both. The police urge the public to refuse to lend their bank or cryptocurrency accounts to avoid becoming involved in such cases.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Hong Kong Customs announced a collaboration with the University of Hong Kong to develop a cryptocurrency transaction tracking tool to combat money laundering crimes involving digital assets. Assistant Commissioner Wong Ho-yin pointed out that from 2021 to May 2025, a total of 39 major money laundering cases were investigated, of which 7 involved cryptocurrencies, with the largest case involving HKD 1.8 billion (approximately USD 230 million), leading to the arrest of 3 suspects who transferred HKD 760 million through a cryptocurrency platform.The operational details of the tool have not been disclosed due to confidentiality. This week, Customs, in collaboration with law enforcement agencies from 8 jurisdictions including China and Singapore, held a three-day anti-money laundering seminar to strengthen cross-border cooperation in combating digital financial crimes.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice has charged New York resident Iurii Gugnin, a Russian national, with allegedly laundering over $530 million from Russia into the U.S. financial system through his cryptocurrency company Evita. The Department of Justice stated that from June 2023 to January 2025, Gugnin primarily used the stablecoin USDT to launder money for foreign clients, including holders of sanctioned Russian bank accounts, and concealed the source of the funds, making false statements to banks and trading platforms.Gugnin, 38, also known as Iurii Mashukov and George Goognin, is the founder, president, and compliance officer of Evita Investments and Evita Pay. He faces 22 charges, including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, and violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, with each bank fraud charge carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.The U.S. Assistant Attorney General for National Security stated that the defendant turned the cryptocurrency company into a "secret pipeline for dirty money," assisting sanctioned Russian entities in obtaining sensitive U.S. products.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the Australian Federal Police conducted 14 raids in Brisbane and the Gold Coast from June 5 to 6 in a joint operation with multiple departments, dismantling a money laundering network suspected of converting $190 million in cash into cryptocurrency through an armored cash transport company.The involved company is suspected of concealing the source of funds through cryptocurrency, antique car transactions, and shell companies. Four individuals have been charged, including a Brisbane man accused of laundering $9.5 million. A total of $170,000 in cryptocurrency assets, 17 properties, encrypted wallets of cryptocurrency devices, and business records and documents related to the alleged money laundering scheme have been seized, and the case is still under investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to CCTV News, the police in Suzhou, Anhui recently cracked a case involving the sale of bank cards for "remote money laundering" using virtual currency, with an amount involved exceeding 80 million yuan. Investigations revealed that the criminal gang formed a "ticketing" group relying on an overseas criminal organization, recruited card dealers through social media, and organized a "card dealer fleet" to collect cards domestically and complete cash withdrawals, purchase virtual currency, and other operations, allowing cross-border fund laundering without the bank cards leaving the country.

ChainCatcher news, Salus founder Mirror Tang (@mirrorzk) stated on social media that since March of this year, Chinese law enforcement agencies have cracked three cases of cryptocurrency money laundering using HyperLiquid. The method involves leveraging Hyperliquid's high leverage liquidation mechanism to wash away illegal gains, creating liquidation losses on HyperLiquid while simultaneously profiting from reverse positions on centralized trading platforms, completing the money laundering process. Salus will release a research article in collaboration with law enforcement agencies to officially disclose this information in the future.Mirror Tang also pointed out that this strategy structure is highly similar to the recent operations of the whale James Wynn, who opened high-leverage contracts and ultimately withdrew $100 million in profits. Mirror Tang urged Hyperliquid co-founder Jeff to pay attention to this issue, stating that if the current lack of risk control measures cannot be resolved, there will be a high risk of regulatory intervention.

ChainCatcher news, the Hong Kong Police Force, in collaboration with anti-fraud centers from multiple countries or regions, has established a cross-border anti-fraud cooperation platform "FRONTIER+" and from April 28 to May 28 this year, conducted its first joint operation with anti-fraud centers from six countries or regions including Macau, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, successfully arresting 1,858 individuals, freezing over 32,600 bank accounts, and intercepting HK$157 million in fraudulent funds.The Chief Superintendent of the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force, Wong Chan-yu, stated that Hong Kong recorded over 13,115 fraud cases in the first four months of this year, a 9% year-on-year increase, with the amount involved decreasing by about 30%. A money laundering group that has been active in Hong Kong and the mainland since last July used over 580 bank accounts and virtual assets to launder approximately HK$118 million. The police launched an operation on the 15th of last month and successfully arrested 12 individuals.

ChainCatcher message, on-chain detective ZachXBT posted that whenever certain cross-chain bridges announce "record usage" data, it is often the case that North Korean hacker groups are laundering money through that bridge. He pointed out that recent incidents are mostly related to stolen funds from Bybit, and they use multiple on-chain hops to obscure the flow of funds and evade address scrutiny, thereby exaggerating the actual usage data.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Luxembourg has classified virtual asset service providers (VASPs) as high-risk entities for money laundering in its 2025 National Risk Assessment (NRA) report.The assessment considers factors such as the trading volume of the crypto industry, customer reach, distribution channels, and international operations, which increase the risk of financial crime.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, a man in the United States has been sentenced to six years in prison for operating a so-called "no questions asked" cash-to-Bitcoin service and ordered to forfeit millions of dollars.On May 22, U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns announced that Trung Nguyen from Danvers, Massachusetts, was sentenced to six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $1.5 million in assets.Prosecutors stated that Nguyen operated an unlicensed money transfer business called National Vending from September 2017 to October 2020, using various methods learned from an online course to evade regulation. Nguyen learned how to conceal his true business from banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and state regulators, such as disguising as a vending machine company that accepted cash deposits, fabricating a fictitious list of suppliers, and avoiding the use of the term "Bitcoin" whenever possible.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, South Korea will allow certain non-profit organizations and registered cryptocurrency exchanges to sell their crypto assets starting in June, and announced strengthened anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulatory measures for institutional clients.This move paves the way for gradually lifting the ban on institutional investment in cryptocurrencies. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) requires exchanges and partner banks to "thoroughly" review the source of funds and transaction purposes of new institutional clients, and plans to allow listed companies and others to trade on exchanges in the second half of 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Kong Commercial Daily, the Hong Kong police launched an operation codenamed "Night Strike" on the 15th, successfully dismantling a cross-border money laundering criminal group. This group recruited individuals from mainland China to open bank accounts in Hong Kong, converting the proceeds of fraud into cryptocurrency for money laundering, with an amount involved reaching up to HKD 118 million.According to reports, the police arrested a total of 12 suspects, including 2 key members of the group and 10 individuals from mainland China. The group began its criminal activities in July 2024, using over 500 bank accounts for money laundering, with HKD 10 million confirmed to have come from 58 fraud cases. During the operation, the police seized approximately HKD 1.05 million in cash, over 560 ATM cards, and a large number of virtual asset transaction records.According to the Hong Kong Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance, those involved in such criminal activities can face up to 14 years in prison and a fine of HKD 5 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the latest research by the international NGO Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) shows that the use of cryptocurrency in criminal activities in the Western Balkans (including countries like Albania and Serbia) continues to expand, primarily involving money laundering, drug trafficking, and illegal mining. The core data is as follows:Scale and Patterns of CrimeThe annual cryptocurrency transaction volume in the Western Balkans reaches $25 billion to $30 billion, with tens of millions of euros directly linked to criminal networks, funds are transferred through cryptocurrency wallets and used for legitimate business investments.Montenegro has become a key node for darknet cryptocurrency transactions, and Albania and Serbia have recently seen instances of using cryptocurrency to launder drug trafficking funds.Law Enforcement ChallengesThe region has recorded only 3 cases of cryptocurrency seizures to date (all occurring in the last three years), with the most recent case involving an Albanian criminal group from November 2024 to January 2025, seizing $10 million in crypto assets.Among the six countries, only Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo have enacted laws related to digital assets, but the implementation rules in Kosovo have yet to come into effect.Regulatory and Collaborative ShortcomingsThe EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has not yet covered the non-member Western Balkans, and there is insufficient cross-border tracking technological capability.GI-TOC senior analyst Sasa Djordjevic pointed out the need to accelerate the adoption of FATF anti-money laundering standards, strengthen collaboration with Europol and Interpol, and deploy blockchain analysis tools to enhance law enforcement efficiency.The research warns that if the regulatory framework and law enforcement capabilities do not upgrade in sync, the cryptocurrency crime problem in the region will continue to worsen.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptoslate, Spanish law enforcement has teamed up with Europol to crack a large-scale transnational cryptocurrency money laundering case. The criminal organization laundered money for criminal groups in China and the Arab region through cryptocurrency transactions, with an amount involved exceeding 20 million euros.It is reported that the operation searched 14 locations and arrested 17 suspects, of which 15 have been detained pending trial. Law enforcement seized over 205,000 euros in cash, digital assets worth 183,000 euros, 18 luxury cars, and properties valued at approximately 2.5 million euros.

ChainCatcher news, according to on-chain detective ZachXBT, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office announced that the crypto trading platform eXch has been seized by law enforcement, with 34 million euros and the platform's infrastructure confiscated.eXch is suspected of providing money laundering services for the Bybit hack, multi-signature vulnerabilities, FixedFloat vulnerabilities, the Genesis Creditor $243 million theft case, and multiple phishing attacks, involving hundreds of millions of dollars in funds, and has refused to freeze related addresses and comply with injunctions.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by Decrypt, Paschal Donohoe, the President of the Eurogroup and the Irish Minister for Finance, stated at the European Anti-Financial Crime Summit that the EU is advancing new Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (AMLR), which will require crypto asset service providers to record information about the sender and receiver of transactions to achieve transparent regulation of crypto transfers.Previous news indicates that the EU will completely ban anonymous crypto accounts and privacy coin transactions starting in 2027.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, former SafeMoon CEO John Karony stated on social media on the first day of the court hearing in New York that he "did not commit fraud," insisting on his innocence and accusing platform founder Kyle Nagy of being the mastermind behind the fund misappropriation incident. Nagy has fled to Russia after being charged. Karony faces three charges including securities fraud and money laundering, with the case expected to be heard until May 26. He is currently out on bail set at $3 million.Previous news, the U.S. Department of Justice will continue to advance the fraud lawsuit against the former CEO of SafeMoon.