{"id":32670,"date":"2025-06-19T13:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T13:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=32670"},"modified":"2025-06-19T13:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T13:17:12","slug":"doj-files-225m-civil-forfeiture-case-linked-to-crypto-scam-perpetrated-by-disgraced-ceo-shan-hanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=32670","title":{"rendered":"DoJ Files $225M Civil Forfeiture Case Linked to Crypto Scam Perpetrated by Disgraced CEO Shan Hanes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>So, it turns out that the Kansas banker (Shan Hanes) who ripped off millions from his small-town bank in Kansas, lost much of his loot to a pig butchering crypto scam, tied to a Philippines call centre, according to a Department of Justice (DoJ) complaint.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-dc\/media\/1403996\/dl?inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">complaint <\/a>filed on 18 June 2025, the DoJ\u2019s persecutors have initiated a civil forfeiture action targeting over $225 million in laundered USDT, tied to Shan Hanes, the disgraced CEO of the Heartland Tri-State Bank, <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/kansasreflector.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MT-2024-CR-000006-Amended-Complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">embezzling over $47 million<\/a> from the bank, triggering the collapse of the agricultural lender in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>A crypto exchange provided critical information to the DoJ, which led to the regulatory body identifying a complex modus operandi used by the scammers to launder illegal funds.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have recovered a total of 93 deposit accounts, where scammers coerced their victims into depositing USDT. Once victims deposited the funds, they circulated through as many as 100 intermediary wallets to obscure the source of the funds and to mix deposits from multiple victims.<\/p>\n<p>Once they obscured the source of funds, the scammers then transferred these funds to OKX accounts in two reshuffling phases. They initially transferred the fund to 22 OKX holding accounts and then reshuffled it among 122 additional OKX accounts.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.1.0\/72x72\/1f6a8.png\" alt=\"\ud83d\udea8\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\"> BREAKING: Kansas banker Shan Hanes, who stole $47M from Heartland Tri-State Bank, lost millions to overseas crypto scammers in a DOJ-busted $225M USDT laundering scheme.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 DOJ ties scam to <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.1.0\/72x72\/1f1f5-1f1ed.png\" alt=\"\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udded\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\"> call center<br \/>\u2022 OKX helped trace 200+ wallets<br \/>\u2022 Bank collapsed in 2023<br \/>\u2022 Hanes\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X6Atn9znlO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/X6Atn9znlO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CryptoAI (@QCryptoAI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/QCryptoAI\/status\/1935637989457076682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">June 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>All OKX accounts were linked through shared IP addresses, reusable KYC documents, traced to a Manila-based crypto scam centre \u2013 ITECHNO Specialist Inc.<\/p>\n<p>The DoJ has estimated an astronomical $3 billion in transaction volume generated by this Manila-based laundering network.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Explore<\/strong>:\u00a0<a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/cryptocurrency\/high-risk-high-reward-crypto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener sponsored\">9+ Best High-Risk, High-Reward Crypto to Buy in June 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Hans Referred to Both as a Perpetrator and a Victim <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>According to the DoJ complaint, Hanes embezzled millions from the Heartland Tri-State Bank from 30 May to 7 July 2023, a period that falls between the bank\u2019s quarterly regulatory reporting cycles, to avoid detection. In this time frame, Hanes initiated 10 wire transfers amounting to a little over $47.1 million.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint also takes into account the Federal Reserve\u2019s (FED) <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/oig.federalreserve.gov\/reports\/board-material-loss-review-heartland-tri-state-bank-feb2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">report <\/a>on the collapse of the Heartland Tri-State Bank. The regulatory body found a total of 434 victims of the crypto scam, with 60 victims losing a combined value of $19.4 million, approximately.<\/p>\n<p>Heartland Tri-State Bank, which held $13.7 million in capital and $139 million in assets, had its liquidity affected by Hanes\u2019s actions, which caused the bank to initiate an emergency borrowing worth $21 million.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the bank was left with a giant $35 million hole in its coffers and was shut down by the regulators in July 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, as earlier <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2024\/08\/21\/cryptocurrency-shan-hanes-pig-butchering-scam.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">reported <\/a>by CNN,\u00a0 Hanes also stole $40,000 from the Elkhart Church of Christ, $10,000 from the Santa Fe Investment Club, $60,000 from his daughter\u2019s college fund and finally, almost $1 million in stocks from the finance firm, Elkhart Financial.<\/p>\n<p>In August 2024, the court sentenced Hanes to 24 years in prison. Meanwhile, the DoJ has named him both the perpetrator and a victim of this particular pig butchering scam.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Explore<\/strong>:\u00a0<a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/cryptocurrency\/new-cryptocurrency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener sponsored\">Best New Cryptocurrencies to Invest in 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Crypto Scam Assets Headed for FED Holdings<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While the bitcoin reserve and the stockpile of other cryptocurrencies are not yet in place, the seized USDT is highly likely to end up in the <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">FED\u2019s crypto stockpile<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Treasury Department has been auditing the US government\u2019s digital asset holdings to determine cryptocurrencies and various other digital assets that it needs to hold.<\/p>\n<p>Since officials have recovered only a small percentage of those affected by the scam, total compensation to the victims from the seized USDT remains uncertain.<\/p>\n<div class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways\">\n<h2 class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__title\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__list\">\n<li class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__list-item\">\n        Shan Hanes lost $3.3M from his embezzled $47M to a pig butchering scam    <\/li>\n<li class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__list-item\">\n        Scammers reshuffled stolen funds in two phases linked to a total of 144 OKX accounts    <\/li>\n<li class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__list-item\">\n        Investigators traced all OKX accounts to a compound in Manila, Philippines    <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/news\/doj-files-225m-civil-forfeiture-case-linked-to-crypto-scam-perpetrated-by-disgraced-ceo-shan-hanes\/\">DoJ Files $225M Civil Forfeiture Case Linked to Crypto Scam Perpetrated by Disgraced CEO Shan Hanes<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/\">99Bitcoins<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, it turns out that the Kansas banker (Shan Hanes) who ripped off millions from his small-town bank in Kansas, lost much of his loot to a pig butchering crypto scam, tied to a Philippines call centre, according to a Department of Justice (DoJ) complaint. According to the complaint filed on 18 June 2025, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-32670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}