A cryptocurrency scam costs an Omaha woman hundreds of thousands of dollars.It’s a case of money laundering that’s laid out in federal court documents.The victim in this case isn’t identified by anything other than initials: M.M.Civil court documents filed Wednesday want money turned over to the federal government that the feds said the woman was scammed out of.A federal complaint shows the case dates back to 2021, when an Omaha woman met someone on an online dating platform who convinced her to invest her savings into cryptocurrency.Over three months, the victim deposited $732,937.10 into bitcoin and sent that to a “bitcoin miner.”The feds said the woman later tried to cash out her bitcoin, but the miner told her she’d have to provide an 18% clearance fee.She did, but the complaint said the woman never got her money back, so she called local law enforcement to report it.A federal investigation outlined in the complaint details nine separate accounts held at a cryptocurrency company based out of the Cayman Islands that were used to facilitate a wire fraud and money laundering scheme against the victim. Exhibits attached to the complaint show bitcoin traced from transactions between the victim and those accounts held at the cryptocurrency company.That complaint, found by Seamus Hughes, said the feds secured a warrant to freeze the accounts and seized the money into an FBI-controlled account in February 2022.The court filing said because the money was derived from proceeds of illegal activity it should be forfeited to the United States.It asks for all cryptocurrency, virtual currency, funds, monies and other things of value stored in or accessible at the cryptocurrency company associated with a particular user ID.The court records make no mention of whether the victim will get her money back.It does not reference any criminal cases despite naming several individuals, including the alleged account holders of those nine target accounts. A federal judge has been assigned the case.
A cryptocurrency scam costs an Omaha woman hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It’s a case of money laundering that’s laid out in federal court documents.
The victim in this case isn’t identified by anything other than initials: M.M.
Civil court documents filed Wednesday want money turned over to the federal government that the feds said the woman was scammed out of.
A federal complaint shows the case dates back to 2021, when an Omaha woman met someone on an online dating platform who convinced her to invest her savings into cryptocurrency.
Over three months, the victim deposited $732,937.10 into bitcoin and sent that to a “bitcoin miner.”
The feds said the woman later tried to cash out her bitcoin, but the miner told her she’d have to provide an 18% clearance fee.
She did, but the complaint said the woman never got her money back, so she called local law enforcement to report it.
A federal investigation outlined in the complaint details nine separate accounts held at a cryptocurrency company based out of the Cayman Islands that were used to facilitate a wire fraud and money laundering scheme against the victim.
Exhibits attached to the complaint show bitcoin traced from transactions between the victim and those accounts held at the cryptocurrency company.
That complaint, found by Seamus Hughes, said the feds secured a warrant to freeze the accounts and seized the money into an FBI-controlled account in February 2022.
The court filing said because the money was derived from proceeds of illegal activity it should be forfeited to the United States.
It asks for all cryptocurrency, virtual currency, funds, monies and other things of value stored in or accessible at the cryptocurrency company associated with a particular user ID.
The court records make no mention of whether the victim will get her money back.
It does not reference any criminal cases despite naming several individuals, including the alleged account holders of those nine target accounts.
A federal judge has been assigned the case.
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