Consistent with its role as a leader in the investigation and enforcement of offenses involving cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, on June 30, 2022, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced four separate enforcement actions related to cryptocurrency-related fraud and other misconduct, which are summarized below.1 Notably, all four prosecutions involve alleged cross-border wrongdoing in the digital asset space prosecuted pursuant to long-standing fraud-based statutes.
The Enforcement Actions
These enforcement actions reflect the DOJ’s continued focus on a variety of cross-border wrongdoing in the digital asset space.
- Money Laundering and Wire Fraud: In United States v. Le Ahn Tuan, the DOJ charged a Vietnamese national with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his alleged role in carrying out a fraudulent investment scheme involving the “Baller Ape” Non-Fungible Token (NFT).2 The DOJ alleges that the defendant and his co-conspirators launched a fraudulent investment program that claimed to provide investors with an opportunity to purchase Baller Ape NFTs, but after investors transferred their cryptocurrency to the defendant and his co-conspirators, the defendant and his co-conspirators ended the investment program prematurely and stole the investors’ assets.3 Thereafter, the defendant allegedly engaged in “chain-hopping,” which involves, among other things, converting one type of…
