# U.S. Seeks Forfeiture of $47,000 in Crypto Tied to Alleged Bitcoin Theft

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/25552
Published: 2026-09-30T00:11:03.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-30T00:11:03.000Z
Section: Regulation

> Federal prosecutors seek about 110,270 Tether traced to a Binance account after alleged account-takeover fraud led to the unauthorized transfer of 33.7 Bitcoin from two wallets.

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture action Sept. 28 seeking about 110,270 Tether (USDT) traced to a Binance account after alleged account-takeover fraud resulted in the unauthorized transfer of 33.7 Bitcoin (BTC).

The case concerns text messages that allegedly purported to come from Coinbase and induced a beneficiary who controlled a Massachusetts family trust to disclose login credentials and other account information on June 1 and June 2, 2023. The beneficiary lived in San Diego, California.

Two separate wallets were held within one Coinbase account controlled by the beneficiary. They contained a combined 33.7 BTC, valued at about $900,000 at the time. The family trust’s wallet held 28.5 BTC.

Federal prosecutors allege that all 33.7 BTC was transferred without the owners’ knowledge or consent to multiple cryptocurrency wallets. Investigators traced 11.2 BTC to a Binance account through six deposits made between June 5 and June 15, 2023. The deposits totaled 11.203562 BTC.

The Binance account was opened around May 25, 2023, through Binance Spain S.L. and held in the name of Enrique Mora Morales. Spanish authorities allegedly determined that the identification number used to open the account was unassigned. About 15 devices accessed the account between May and November 2023.

The deposited Bitcoin was converted almost immediately into Monero (XMR), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency. About 75% of the converted XMR was successfully withdrawn, while later attempts involving about 758.552588 XMR were rejected.

Monero obscures transaction amounts and sending and receiving addresses, making funds more difficult to trace. Investigators followed the Bitcoin transactions before the conversion and identified Tether that remained in the Binance account.

Binance froze the account at the FBI’s request. A seizure warrant was obtained Oct. 30, 2024, and Binance transferred about 110,270 USDT to a government-controlled wallet on or about Aug. 3, 2026. The government valued the seized tokens at about $47,000 when the action was announced Sept. 28.

The civil case seeks forfeiture of the USDT as property allegedly traceable to wire-fraud proceeds. No criminal defendant is identified, and the case does not establish who sent the texts or removed the Bitcoin.

Potential claimants may contest the seizure before the court decides whether the assets should be forfeited and potentially returned to victims. The case does not establish whether the seized USDT represents all remaining proceeds or whether victims have received recovered funds.