US Law Enforcement Actions Targeting Crypto-Enabled Crime and Illicit Marketplaces

US authorities reported multiple enforcement actions tied to crypto-enabled crime. In the Empire Market case, prosecutors said co-creators Raheim Hamilton and Thomas Pavey designed the dark web marketplace to help users evade law enforcement and launder proceeds; the market allegedly facilitated about $430M in transactions (drugs, stolen payment data, counterfeit currency) before disappearing in 2020 in what investigators described as an exit scam that stole an estimated $30M in bitcoin. Hamilton pleaded guilty to federal drug conspiracy charges and agreed to forfeit roughly 1,230 BTC plus 24.4 ETH and real estate; Pavey previously pleaded guilty and agreed to forfeit about 1,584 BTC and other assets.

Separately, reporting highlighted alleged misuse and laundering of digital assets in other contexts. On-chain investigator ZachXBT traced movements from wallets associated with US-seized crypto (held under U.S. Marshals Service custodianship) to wallets allegedly linked to John Daghita, the son of a federal contractor executive, with claims of roughly $23M in diverted cryptocurrency and another wallet holding about $36M in Ethereum; ZachXBT said he alerted the U.S. Marshals Service. In another DOJ case, Jingliang Su (a Chinese national) was sentenced to 46 months for laundering proceeds from a cryptocurrency investment fraud that authorities said victimized 174 people for $36.9M, using social engineering via social media/dating platforms and counterfeit trading sites, with $26.9M restitution ordered and multiple US agencies involved in tracing funds and dismantling the network.