District Attorney’s Office in the Manhattan District has issued orders of freezing funds in crypto worth roughly US$ 1.3 Million.
The frozen funds shall be distributed amongst the victims of fraudulent crypto schemes against which a ten-month-long investigation has come to an end.
The DA Officer further acknowledged the need of making the public aware of crypto frauds and how to deal with them.
Manhattan DA Office Freezes Funds in Crypto
Alvin Bragg, who is holding the Office of District Attorney in the Manhattan District, issued a press statement on 10th November 2022.
In his statement, Manhattan’s DA revealed that his office authorized the freezing of crypto funds amounting to US$ 1.3 Million roughly. He claimed that the said funds were proceeds of crimes committed by crypto fraudsters.
He also claimed that the money was illegally obtained from the victims which were lured into becoming part of fake and fraudulent crypto schemes.
10-Month Long Investigation Concluded
The DA also told the press that there was an investigation going on against the perpetrators of crypto frauds in the District. He revealed that the investigation was going on for the past 10 months which has ended recently.
Upon completion of the investigation, he claimed that it was necessary to freeze the funds which funds belonged to the victims of fraud.
Bragg explained that his district had to face a challenge as historically the district hadn’t dealt with a fraud case involving crypto.
Crypto and Blockchain Experts Engaged
In this connection, he said that the District had to engage blockchain and crypto experts and analysts for assisting prosecutors and investigators.
With joint efforts, the DA Office was successfully able to identify where the proceeds of crime were kept by the perpetrators.
Upon coming to know of the exact place, where the funds were stored, immediate orders to freeze funds were issued by the DA Office. Consequently, crypto funds equivalent to US$ 1.3 Million were successfully frozen.
Victims Shall Be Compensated
It was further revealed by the DA office that during the course of the investigation, none of the main culprits were arrested. It was noted by DA Office that the perpetrators behind crypto fraud operated outside the US borders.
However, they couldn’t succeed in transferring the proceeds of crime across the border.
It has been confirmed by the DA office that the frozen funds shall be distributed amongst the victims from whom the funds were stolen.
Need To Spread the Awareness
Bragg also insisted that there is a huge need of making the public aware of how to prevent such crimes and what to do while encountering them. In this connection, he also pointed out several crypto fraudulent tactics for public awareness.
At the end of his press statement, Bragg said that currently, the DA office has obtained possession of crypto funds amounting to US$ 200,000. The said funds shall be used to settle the claims of victims, said, Bragg.