WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — The Justice Department said Wednesday that authorities restrained more than $52 million in cryptocurrency linked to an alleged online marketplace that provided services to scam operations targeting victims in the United States.
The action targeted Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language marketplace that operated through Telegram. According to a federal seizure warrant, vendors on the platform allegedly offered money laundering, fake investment websites and recruitment services for scam compounds in Southeast Asia.
Investigators said funds stolen from U.S. victims were traced to some vendors advertising services through Xinbi. A federal court in Washington authorized the seizure of Telegram channels hosting the marketplace on Sept. 7.
Authorities also seized two cryptocurrency wallets allegedly used by Xinbi to process vendor payments. The wallets contained about $12 million. Law enforcement sought to restrain 47 additional wallets believed to be connected to money laundering through Xinbi and its vendors, bringing the total restrained in the operation to more than $52 million.
The Justice Department said the action raised the total amount of cryptocurrency restrained by its Scam Center Strike Force to approximately $938 million. Tether assisted investigators with the cryptocurrency portion of the operation, according to DOJ.
In a coordinated action, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Xinbi as a transnational criminal organization. Treasury also sanctioned Safew Technology and Anwen Technology for allegedly providing financial, technological or other support to Xinbi.
The Justice Department also said a Strike Force team spent two weeks in Madagascar assisting local authorities with operations against 13 scam centers allegedly operated by Chinese organized crime groups. Investigators helped process more than 3,200 electronic devices and interviewed nearly 400 people who had been arrested.
DOJ said approximately 30 of those arrested were alleged Chinese leaders of the scam compounds and were later repatriated to China. U.S. investigators opened additional cases based on information gathered during the operation.
The Scam Center Strike Force was launched in November 2025 to investigate cryptocurrency investment fraud, cyber-enabled fraud, human trafficking and money laundering linked to overseas scam compounds.
The FBI reported that Americans submitted more than 1 million internet crime complaints in 2025, with reported losses exceeding $20 billion. Cyber-enabled fraud accounted for more than $17.7 billion in reported losses, while investment fraud accounted for about $8.65 billion.
