US Demands Confiscation of $54M in Crypto
The United States Attorney’s Office has initiated a civil lawsuit to reclaim more than $54 million worth of cryptocurrency that was previously seized in a drug trafficking case.
According to the lawsuit, the defendant Christopher Castelluzzo and his accomplices operated a criminal enterprise from 2010 to 2015, selling illegal substances. They started accepting bitcoins as payment for drugs in 2013 through the darknet.
In July 2014, Castelluzzo participated in the Ethereum Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and bought 30,000 ETH. He also received 30,000 ETC after a mainnet hard fork in 2016.
The government is seeking forfeiture of these digital assets as well. Castelluzzo is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in New Jersey for drug trafficking.
In 2021, he attempted to move his cryptocurrency out of the United States to conceal it, including from tax authorities.
However, law enforcement intercepted his phone conversations and seized his digital assets.
