The U.S. Department of Justice has unsealed federal charges in the Southern District of California against six alleged participants in overseas cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, while an international operation involving the FBI, Dubai Police, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and Thailand's Royal Thai Police arrested at least 276 people and dismantled at least nine scam centers. The department said the defendants were linked to pig-butchering networks that used friendship or romance to gain victims' trust and steer them into fake cryptocurrency platforms, causing millions of dollars in losses to Americans. The charging documents relate to three alleged scam organizations, Ko Thet Company, Sanduo Group and Giant Company. Thet Min Nyi and one fugitive co-defendant were indicted on wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges. Separate criminal complaints charged Wiliang Awang, Andreas Chandra, Lisa Mariam and another fugitive co-defendant with wire fraud conspiracy. Dubai Police apprehended Thet Min Nyi, Chandra and Mariam, Thailand arrested Awang, and two alleged co-conspirators remain fugitives. The FBI's San Diego investigation, opened in 2025, identified victims across the United States through Internet Crime Complaint Center complaints and traced how victims were directed to transfer cryptocurrency to false investment platforms and, in some cases, to borrow additional funds to invest more.

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