On September 17, a group of officials led by U.S. attorney Tracy Wilkinson have filed a civil complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California claiming that they have identified four digital wallets holding more than 9.8 million Tether (USDT) that was involved in wire fraud, computer fraud and money laundering. According to court documents, the legitimate owner of the funds is a California resident who in April 2021 got swindled out of more than 200 (BTC) by someone impersonating a Coinbase (NASDAQ:) employee.

As described in the claim, the unidentified victim was contacted by what appeared to be Coinbase customer support shortly after purchasing some 200 BTC to their Coinbase Pro account on the exchange.