Press Release: 1/13/2026

United States Attorney’s Office Files Civil Forfeiture Action to Recover Proceeds of Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud Scheme

 



Monday, January 12, 2026



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For Immediate Release



 



Victim allegedly approached on the dating app Tinder



BOSTON – The United States Attorney’s Office filed a civil forfeiture action to recover 200,000.039646 USDT (Tether), alleged to be proceeds of an online investment fraud scheme. The cryptocurrency currently has an estimated value of approximately $200,000.



In April 2025, an investigation began into a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme that targeted a Massachusetts resident. In such fraud schemes, often called “pig-butchering” schemes, scammers obtain funds from victims using manipulative tactics. The scammer establishes a level of trust with a victim in online communications and then entices the victim into investing in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. Often the victim is enticed to make additional payments before realizing they are a victim of fraud. The victim’s funds are stolen by the criminal, or criminals, ultimately causing the victim financial and emotional harm. Perpetrators behind these cryptocurrency investment schemes are often located overseas.  



As alleged in court documents, a Massachusetts resident matched with an individual on Tinder who went by the name “Nino Martin.” Martin suggested they leave Tinder and communicate via WhatsApp. He told the victim that he was a financial advisor and could help the victim make money by trading cryptocurrency. The victim then followed instructions to create an account and transfer funds to a trading platform that law enforcement believes was fraudulent. Individuals from the suspected fraudulent trading platform then contacted the victim with instructions on how to evade restrictions on the legitimate account from which the victim had transferred funds, as the prior transfers had been flagged as suspicious. The victim then continued to transfer funds to the suspected fraudulent trading platform. The victim transferred approximately $504,353 to the suspected fraudulent trading platform prior to contacting law enforcement.    



Some victim funds were then traced to a cryptocurrency account, which was seized in June 2025.



It is a violation of federal law to use wire communications as part of a scheme to defraud or to obtain money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses. It is also a violation of federal law to conduct a financial transaction knowing that the transaction is designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of criminal proceeds. A civil forfeiture action allows third parties to assert claims to property, which must be resolved before the property can be forfeited to the United States and returned to victims.



This is one of several civil forfeiture actions the U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed seeking to forfeit cryptocurrency traced to fraud schemes targeting Massachusetts victims.



Members of the public who believe they are victims of a cybercrime – including cryptocurrency scams, romance scams, investment scams and business email compromise fraud scams – should contact USAMA.CyberTip@usdoj.gov.



United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Boston Field Office made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Lyons of the Asset Recovery Unit is prosecuting the civil forfeiture action.



The details contained in the civil forfeiture complaint and criminal charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.