A sophisticated cryptocurrency fraud scheme has led to a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Plaintiff Tayfun Tan filed the complaint on June 21, 2024, against multiple defendants including TrustGHQ, BAM Trading Services Inc. (doing business as Binance.US), Tether Limited, and Circle Internet Financial LLC.
The case centers around an elaborate scam known as "Pig Butchering," where fraudsters pose as successful cryptocurrency traders to lure victims into making investments. According to the FBI, these scammers gain victims' trust through social media or dating apps before convincing them to make continuous deposits into fake investment platforms. In this instance, Mr. Tan was contacted by an individual posing as "Judith Ksinky" on EliteSingles.com and later on WhatsApp. This person persuaded him to create accounts with Kraken and Trust Wallet and transfer funds to TrustGHQ's purported trading platform.
Mr. Tan alleges that he transferred a total of 112.8207 Ether (ETH) cryptocurrency over ten transactions from December 11, 2023, to February 26, 2024. Initially, his account showed increasing balances and even allowed small test withdrawals to maintain the illusion of legitimacy. However, when he attempted a significant withdrawal, he was told he needed to deposit an additional sum equivalent to 20% of his portfolio value before accessing his funds—a clear red flag indicating fraudulent activity.
The plaintiff asserts that the stolen funds are currently held by TrustGHQ in the form of Tether tokens (USDT) and USDC Coin (USDC), minted by defendants Tether Limited and Circle Internet Financial LLC respectively. These companies have control over these assets and can prevent further access or even destroy existing tokens and reissue new ones.
Mr. Tan is seeking compensatory damages of at least $353,512—the market value of his ETH as of April 26, 2024—and various forms of injunctive relief including transferring or destroying the USDT and USDC held by TrustGHQ if they belong to him. He also seeks pre-judgment interest and reimbursement for costs incurred during this action.
The case is being handled by attorneys Joseph P. Carlasare and Ronald D. Balfour from Amundsen Davis LLC, while no specific judge has been named yet in Case No.: 24-cv-5189.