On Wednesday, September 16, 2026, the United States government filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Central District of California seeking the forfeiture of more than $3 million seized from four bank accounts allegedly tied to an international confidence fraud and unlicensed money transmitting scheme.
According to the civil forfeiture complaint, the U.S. Secret Service seized the funds on or about August 21, 2025, pursuant to a federal warrant. The targeted accounts included $1,204,000 from an East West Bank account held by Ruizhi Zhang, $842,490 from a separate East West Bank account held by Nanxi Zhong, $527,460.61 from a JPMorgan Chase account in the name of TCHN Engineer Inc., and $488,275.57 from a Cathay Bank account belonging to Great Lands of America LLC.
Investigators say the money originated from at least three victims — identified in court papers only by their initials, V.W., J.F. and H.H. — who were defrauded through online romance and investment scams often referred to as “pig butchering” schemes. In each case, the complaint alleges, victims were approached online, built trusted relationships with strangers over months, and were persuaded to invest large sums in cryptocurrency through fraudulent trading platforms, including sites called Btchkle.com, bidpanda.com and Alphablockers.com.
Victim V.W., who was contacted through the Nextdoor app in December 2024 by a person claiming to be a New York-based investment associate, ultimately wired more than $3.2 million, with additional payments demanded as fake “risk deposit” and “tax” fees. The complaint states V.W.’s total losses exceeded $5.5 million. Victim J.F. similarly wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to the same network and later paid $60,000 to a purported “recovery specialist” who claimed he could retrieve the lost funds. Victim H.H. reported losses of roughly $11.5 million, including $5.2 million funneled through accounts tied to Great Lands of America LLC.
The complaint alleges that Great Lands of America LLC, operated by a realtor identified as Xi Dai, also known as Daisy Dai, served as a conduit in a separate, related scheme: converting Chinese yuan held by Ruizhi Zhang and Nanxi Zhong into U.S. dollars to help the couple purchase a $10.488 million estate in Newport Coast, California, allegedly circumventing China’s currency transfer restrictions.
Prosecutors say Dai worked with a Vancouver-based cryptocurrency trader known as Aki Zhou to exchange the funds through informal, unlicensed channels, using victim wire transfers as part of the currency conversion pipeline. Neither Dai, Zhou nor Great Lands of America LLC were registered as licensed money transmitters in California or with the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, according to the filing.
The government is pursuing forfeiture under federal statutes covering wire fraud, money laundering and illegal money transmission, arguing the seized funds are traceable to victims’ wired payments. Prosecutors state the action is intended to allow compensation to defrauded victims rather than other parties seeking claims to the funds. No criminal charges were detailed in the civil complaint.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
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