On Friday, October 2, 2026, the United States government filed a forfeiture complaint in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina seeking to claim roughly $119,306 worth of the USDC stablecoin that federal investigators say is proceeds of a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme.
The civil action, filed in Charlotte under Case No. 3:26-cv-00834, targets all Circle USD Coin held at a single, unhosted Ethereum blockchain address beginning 0xE6d328. As of September 23, 2026, the address held approximately 119,306.268701 USDC. U.S.
According to the filing, the case began on June 10, 2025, when a 69-year-old Charlotte resident, identified only as “A.M.,” told the FBI he lost about $150,000 in a cryptocurrency scheme.
The complaint states that A.M. met a person calling herself “Thalia Williams” on the social media platform X on or about March 30, 2025. The two later spoke through messaging apps, including WhatsApp. Williams allegedly told A.M. he could earn daily interest by holding funds in a cryptocurrency wallet, and she directed him to download the Bifrost Wallet app and link it to a website, qsjt66.com. The site advertised a daily return of 3.3% for certain balances, which the filing says works out to an annual rate of about 1,204%.
Between early April and late May 2025, A.M. deposited about 50,000 USDC into the wallet and received roughly 5,000 USDC in what he believed were interest payments, the complaint says. On May 27, 2025, the website displayed a message saying funds suspected of money laundering had arrived in his account and that his assets were locked. About 55,000 USDC then left the wallet without his authorization.
The filing says A.M. was directed to a purported support representative named “Tim,” who told him he must make “verification payments” to recover the money. A.M. made several such payments between May 30 and June 5, 2025, totaling about 100,000 USDC, and each time the funds were moved out of the wallet without his action. He was then told he owed a 20% tax and warned that the IRS could take his funds if he did not pay.
Investigators traced A.M.’s money from accounts at USAA, UBS, and Charles Schwab into a Coinbase account, then to the Bifrost wallet, and finally to the target address. The complaint says at least $153,500 moved from his bank accounts to Coinbase, and four withdrawals from the Bifrost wallet totaling 161,044 USDC went to the target address.
The government says the target address received 60 deposits totaling 369,306 USDC between March 20 and June 12, 2025, and that three withdrawals totaling 250,000 USDC were made. Using an accounting method known as the lowest intermediate balance rule, investigators concluded that about 117,648 USDC, or roughly 99% of the balance, was traceable to A.M.’s funds.
The FBI served a seizure warrant on Circle Internet Financial, LLC on or about June 13, 2025, and Circle blocklisted the address. The complaint says Circle cannot move the original tokens because unknown parties control the address. In September 2026, Circle agreed to issue replacement USDC to the United States if the court orders final forfeiture.
The FBI also reported receiving other complaints describing similar schemes involving Bifrost wallets and qsjt66.com, including one from June 22, 2025, in which a person said they sent funds to the target address on June 9, 2025. The complaint adds that no one holding the address contacted the FBI after Circle relayed a third-party inquiry on June 18, 2025.
The government asks the court to issue notice to interested parties and to declare the cryptocurrency forfeited to the United States.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
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