The U.S. Secret Service has seized $860,000 from a Nigerian cryptocurrency account, linking the funds to a business email compromise scam that defrauded an American couple of $966,500 intended for a home purchase.
Court filings obtained by Peoples Gazette revealed that the funds were traced to fraudulent activities orchestrated by a Nigerian suspect who intercepted email exchanges between the victims and a law firm handling the transaction.
The scam began on April 2, 2024, when the suspect spoofed email accounts to impersonate both parties involved in the sale.
On April 17, the victim, identified as Victim 1 in court documents, transferred $966,500 to what he believed was the law firm’s account. The fraud came to light two days later when the couple and their realtor discovered discrepancies during a scheduled meeting at the law firm. The victim contacted his bank, Charles Schwab & Company, to report the fraudulent transfer.
Investigators tracked the stolen funds, which were first moved to a Bank of America account and then transferred to a cryptocurrency account on April 18. Records show that $960,000 of the stolen funds were deposited into the crypto account, with $98,276.94 subsequently transferred as 1.588106 Bitcoin to another address via Binance.
In total “$960,000.00 in fraud proceeds were sent to the CRYPTO ACCOUNT,” court filings stated.
On April 18, the suspect made a crypto transaction of “1.588106 Bitcoin (BTC), valued at $98,276.94 in proceeds to address: bc1qz3ms6tlc2d4lkrp6q6al28tkknyzvaflqt4y72, via transaction ID: b8c5516bd2373553b795c825247c54cbe6787afd16e97b69f5d0beb639ef4df8.”
The transaction incurred a charge of $1,723.
Binance’s Know Your Customer (KYC) checks identified the account holder as a Nigerian citizen residing in Turkey. Before the Secret Service seized the account, $89,999.97 had already been withdrawn.
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On October 2, 2024, Secret Service Special Agent Jayson Bradshaw filed a forfeiture application in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge Claude M. Hilton issued an arrest warrant in rem on October 10, granting legal authority to seize the fraudulent assets.
The Secret Service is seeking forfeiture of the remaining $860,000 under Title 18 of the United States Code, which mandates that proceeds from unlawful activities be surrendered to the government.
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