Department of Justice News

A federal judge sentenced PGI founder Ramil Palafox to 20 years in prison for running a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme that raised over $200 million from customers between 2019 and 2021.

Sam Bankman-Fried seeks a new FTX trial, alleging DOJ witness pressure and citing a declaration disputing the prosecution’s insolvency claims, according to a new filing.

SafeMoon’s former chief technology officer, Thomas Smith, has also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. Alleged co-conspirator Kyle Nagy remains at large.

A US court sentenced Daren Li to 20 years in prison for leading a $73 million crypto pig butchering scam targeting American investors.

Jeffrey Epstein may have made a $3.2 million investment in Coinbase in 2014 and sold some of it for $15 million in 2018, according to the latest batch of released emails.

A final court order transfers the legal title of seized cryptocurrency and assets to the US government, closing a case tied to Helix’s operations from 2014 to 2017.

The six US senators cited a sharp rise in illicit crypto activity in 2025 to argue that the DOJ should not have disbanded its cryptocurrency enforcement team.

Selling the Bitcoin would have violated President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14233, which mandates that any Bitcoin obtained through criminal or civil forfeiture “shall not be sold.”

With the US Senate set to break for the holidays, Senator Elizabeth Warren asked Justice and Treasury Department officials to disclose any potential investigations into the DeFi platform.

Already convicted of one felony charge and facing a possible retrial on two others, the Tornado Cash co-founder’s future is uncertain.

Samourai Wallet’s co-founders received four- and five-year prison terms in the US for operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business through their non-custodial crypto mixer.

Seven Senate Democrats asked the US attorney general and the DOJ to explain President Trump’s pardon of Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, calling it a corrupt move.

The transfer came a day after the US DOJ unsealed an indictment against Prince Holding Group, which allegedly used LuBian to launder illicit funds.

The so-called Bitcoin Jesus was charged with tax evasion in April 2024, years after he renounced his US citizenship.

The DOJ is reportedly considering lifting a three-year compliance monitor imposed under Binance’s $4.3 billion settlement.