The 36-time Italian champions opened the scoring at the 11th minute when a center from defender Alberto Costa assisted Kolo Muani’s header in front of 18,161 fans, many of them wearing white and black-striped Juventus jerseys.
Ten minutes later, Conceição dribbled the ball inside the penalty box and made it 2-0.
Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images
Kenan Yildiz scored into the lower left corner in the 31st minute and Kolo Muani second goal four minutes into first-half stoppage time put Juventus up 4-0 at the half.
Conceição scored again from a center-field kick in the 58th minute.
Al Ain, from the United Arab Emirates, will face a tougher challenge against Group G favorites Manchester City in Atlanta on Sunday. Juventus currently sits first in the group by goal difference and will travel to Philadelphia to attempt to secure a spot in the next round against Wydad.
Demi Lovato and Jordan “Jutes” Lutes are exactly where they’re supposed to be.
Following the couple’s wedding in Santa Barbara, Calif., in May, the “Sorry Not Sorry” singer offered fans a glimpse at their romantic honeymoon getaway.
In a post on her Instagram page June 16, Demi, 32, shared a slew of photos from the tropical destination, including a snap of herself and the 34-year-old enjoying an oceanfront dinner for two while donning colorful leis. She also modeled a variety of beachwear options including a red two-piece bikini and a strapless striped swimsuit.
And the newlyweds weren’t shy about showing off their love either, sharing kisses against a variety of picturesque backdrops. But just in case the pics didn’t speak for themselves, Jutes made it clear he’s head over heels for his new spouse.
“Wifey,” the musician wrote in a comment on Demi’s post, adding in a subsequent comment, “I just love u so much.”
British embassy staff have been evacuated from Israel in recent days.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel has called on the UK government to offer repatriation flights to British nationals who want to leave Israel.
Dame Priti told the BBC there are “thousands upon thousands” of Britons in Israel, adding that the government’s response so far is “not sufficient”.
British nationals in the country are facing difficulties getting to the UK, with the airspace closed due to Israel’s conflict with Iran. The BBC has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
Asked if she would offer the US military support if it attacked Iran, Dame Priti said she would not speculate but she would support necessary action if required to defend the UK and its citizens.
It comes as Foreign Secretary David Lammy is set to meet his US counterpart in Washington after Donald Trump said he was mulling whether to join Israeli strikes against Iran.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dame Priti pointed out that embassy staff have been evacuated from Israel.
“There are thousands upon thousands of British nationals in Israel and currently the government response is not sufficient,” she said.
“There are [phone] numbers being put up for families to call and that is simply not good enough.
“We do know embassy personnel are being evacuated. And if they can do that for embassy staff then clearly additional facilities must be extended to British nationals in Israel.”
Dame Priti added other countries were offering air, sea and land options.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Washington was working to get military, commercial, charter flights and cruise ships for evacuation.
Dame Priti’s call for repatriation flights comes after the Foreign Office issued advice on Sunday against all travel to Israel.
British nationals currently in those areas have been told to register their presence via an online form and to follow the advice of local authorities.
The Foreign Office said international land border crossings with Jordan and Egypt remains open – with consular teams in place to provide assistance – while the embassy in Tel Aviv and consulate in Jerusalem remains “fully staffed”.
On Wednesday, a “rapid deployment team” arrived in Jordan which the Foreign Office said would “boost our consular presence”.
Israel and Iran have been exchanging fire for days after air strikes, which Tel Aviv said were aimed at preventing Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said the country’s nuclear programme is peaceful.
US President Donald Trump has not publicly said whether the US will join the Israeli strikes, but the BBC’s US partner CBS reported he had approved attack plans for Iran although he has not made a final decision on whether to strike the country.
President Trump looked to be on the cusp of deciding whether to join Israel’s attack on Iran on Wednesday.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he had “ideas” of what he wanted to do but had not reached a definitive conclusion. In general, he said, he likes “to make a final decision one second before it’s due.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, The Wall Street Journal reported that, the previous day, Trump had told senior aides he had signed off on plans to attack Iran but had not ordered those plans be put fully into motion until he saw whether Iran would abandon its nuclear program.
Iran has vigorously defended its right to continue enriching uranium, even as the nation’s leaders have insisted the substance is intended only for civilian use.
The political push and pull over whether U.S. forces should directly participate in the Israel-led assault is intense. It has huge stakes for the region at large — and perhaps for Trump’s presidency as well.
On a purely practical level, it has been widely reported that Israel needs direct American assistance to accomplish even its most short-term goal of destroying the Iranian nuclear program.
One of the key Iranian enrichment facilities, at Fordow, is built into a mountain. Destroying it likely requires the use of enormous bunker buster 30,000-pound bombs, which only the U.S. possesses or has a plane capable of transporting them: the B-2 bomber.
Many voices in Trump’s party support muscular American backing for its Middle East ally, with figures like Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at the fore in making that argument. But in the wider Make America Great Again (MAGA) world, there are voices who are highly skeptical of such an enterprise.
The divide was shown to dramatic effect in a long and contentious interview between Cruz and Tucker Carlson on the topic, which went viral Wednesday. Carlson is perhaps the most influential figure warning against the U.S. getting sucked into another major foreign conflict after years of being mired in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The arguments of the pro-war side extend beyond merely the standard U.S. support to Israel, which has long relied on a gusher of American military aid.
Proponents say Iran is at a key crossroads, unusually dangerous because of the relatively short time it would hypothetically need to become a nuclear power, but unusually weak because of the series of setbacks suffered by its proxies and those to whom it was sympathetic: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and the now-toppled regime of former President Bashar Assad in Syria.
But if some people see a rare window of opportunity to topple the theocrats who have run Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, others warn about the sheer scale of the risks.
One obvious issue is the potential vulnerability of U.S. troops elsewhere in the region if American forces attack Iran directly.
There are an estimated 13,500 U.S. service members in Kuwait, 10,000 in Qatar, 9,000 in Bahrain and 2,500 still in Iraq, The New York Times estimated Wednesday. All would be in close range of Iran.
Of course, those troops will all be on heightened alert and are well fortified. But the loss of any U.S. lives at all could change the political dynamics for Trump at home.
Back in 1980, then-President Carter suffered a disaster in the Iranian desert when an attempt to rescue hostages failed. Several helicopters used in the covert mission failed and eight U.S. service members were killed.
The circumstances were admittedly very different, but the fact remains that the loss of American lives can easily become politically catastrophic. Then there are the economic effects of an all-out war to consider.
The price of oil has climbed roughly 10 percent over the past week. A sustained price rise will be a drag on industry and a driver of inflation. The Strait of Hormuz, which passes along the Iranian coast, is a conduit for about one-fifth of global oil supplies.
Another huge question: What would be the objective of an American assault? Would it be simply to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities or would it be aimed at toppling the regime?
If the latter is the real objective, there are a multitude of complications.
Even though many Iranians are unhappy with the leadership of the mullahs, that does not mean they would welcome Washington toppling them, especially at the behest of the hated Israel.
Who would replace the current leadership, and what legitimacy would the new leadership have? How would a new government even be arrived at? And, if that process proved tortuous and violent, what role could the U.S. have in trying to pacify a nation of almost 90 million people?
None of it seems appealing to many of the Trump voters who grew tired of what MAGA figures like Steve Bannon call “forever wars” elsewhere.
Meanwhile, even if the U.S. did have more modest objectives, pertaining to the destruction of nuclear capability, the Iranians could rebuild that over time.
Indeed, Iranians might well consider it an imperative to do so at full velocity — if they come to see the failure to acquire nuclear weapons as one reason their enemies felt at liberty to attack in the first place.
To be sure, many worst-case scenarios might not come to pass.
But there are more than enough factors to give Americans serious pause for thought as Trump considers his next move.
When Joe Kinvi joined Touchtech Payments in 2017 as head of finance, the Irish startup couldn’t afford his full salary. So he negotiated for stock to make up the difference. Eighteen months later, Stripe acquired the company, and that equity converted into Stripe shares, enough to let Kinvi leave his job, bootstrap a side project, and eventually found a startup.
That startup, Borderless, is now helping Africans in the diaspora collectively invest in startups and real estate back home. Since launching in beta last year, the U.K.-based platform has processed over $500,000 in transactions.
“The diaspora sends billions of dollars in remittances, but very little of it goes into productive assets,” Kinvi said. “We think that there is a world where, if we can bring the right collective to the right type of investment opportunities, it’ll make it a lot easier for them.”
Kinvi’s journey to Borderless began in 2020, just as the pandemic hit. He and a group of friends formed Hoaq, an investment club that pooled small checks from local and diasporan angels into African startups.
Their first challenge was simply opening a bank account. Financial institutions flagged their activity, and their account with Wise was repeatedly frozen. Other hurdles soon followed: currency mismatches, regulatory requirements, and accreditation rules that made collective investing a legal and logistical headache.
To manage the complexity, the group used membership dues to hire a lawyer to handle the paperwork manually. Eventually, Hoaq built light automation into its workflow, an experience that laid the foundation for Borderless. Hoaq has invested in companies such as LemFi, Bamboo and Chowdeck.
By 2022, Kinvi had left Stripe, where he had transitioned into a product and growth role and later spent a year at Paystack, another Stripe subsidiary, helping scale financial partnerships across Africa.
When he returned to the problem that had formed Hoaq, he built a tool that digitized everything from onboarding to disbursement. What began as an internal solution soon gained outside interest. Other collectives wanted access, not just for startup deals but for real estate and other assets.
Today, Borderless provides the backend infrastructure for diaspora collectives, allowing them to onboard members, accept cross-border payments, and deploy capital securely.
There are over 100 communities on its waitlist, according to the startup. However, over the past couple of months, the collectives currently live on the platform have backed more than 10 startups and two real estate projects in Kenya, with minimum investments of $1,000 for startups and $5,000 for property.
Borderless operates under U.K. regulatory cover, permitting it to market investment opportunities to diaspora members without violating securities laws.
For now, it focuses on two asset classes, startups and real estate, but Kinvi sees room to expand into others, including film and diaspora bonds.
In establishing that the most important part of the Borderless model is trust, Kinvi is blunt about why many diaspora investors hesitate to deploy capital: too many have lost money trying to invest informally through family or friends.
“Someone I know sent €200,000 home to build a house,” he said. “The house was never built.”
To address this, Borderless routes investor funds directly to verified sellers, escrow accounts, or lawyers. No money flows through the hands of collective managers. Legal and compliance checks are embedded into the process, and all opportunities require approval under the platform’s regulatory umbrella.
Borderless earns revenue through transaction fees as well as a cut of membership dues and FX spreads. Over time, it may layer on remittance products, payout fees, and asset management tools.
The bigger opportunity, Kinvi argues, lies in unlocking the $30 billion in migrant savings that sit idle every year. While remittance platforms like Zepz, Taptap Send, LemFi and NALA dominate the space of taking some of that money back home, few have built for long-term investing (that might change in the coming years with recent moves from some players).
That message has resonated with local investors. Borderless’s backers include DFS Lab, Ezra Olubi (Paystack CTO), Olumide Soyombo, and executives from Stripe, Google, among others. Many are not just investors, but also users of the platform.
For Kinvi, the mission for Borderless, which raised $500,000 in seed from these investors, is as much about identity as returns. “Most Africans in the diaspora want to go back home someday,” he said. “To do that, they need a way to invest securely and confidently at scale. That’s what we’re building.”
Still, scaling won’t be easy. Borderless’ current vetting model relies heavily on pre-existing relationships and known collective heads. As it grows, it will need robust identity verification, fraud detection, and legal tooling to avoid becoming a target for bad actors.
After a back-and-forth battle between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, the 2025 NBA Finals are one step closer to crowning a new champion.
Tied 2-2 in the series entering Game 5 on Monday, the Thunder dominated at home behind the dynamic performances of MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points) and Jalen Williams (40). Now leading 3-2, only one more victory stands between the Thunder and the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
The Pacers’ biggest question revolves around the status of star guard Tyrese Haliburton, who has a strained right calf and will undergo an MRI, as reported Tuesday by ESPN’s Shams Charania. In Game 5, Haliburton scored only four points — the lowest total of his playoff career — to go with six assists and seven rebounds.
Our NBA insiders answer some of the biggest questions entering a potential Finals-clinching Game 6 in Indianapolis on Thursday, including how the Pacers can force a Game 7 and the biggest X factors to watch for.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how concerned should the Pacers be about Tyrese Haliburton‘s Game 5 performance and his status?
Tim MacMahon: 10. It’s hard to see the Pacers generating a lot of points against the league’s best defense without a healthy Haliburton. It’s not all about scoring for him, but the Pacers are a different team when Haliburton is in attack mode. Indiana is 12-3 when Haliburton scores at least 20 points in these playoffs and 8-11 when he doesn’t. T.J. McConnell brings energy off the bench and can go on scoring flurries, like he did in the third quarter of Game 5; but he is the NBA equivalent of a third-down running back who isn’t equipped to get 25 carries.
Jamal Collier: 10. Scoring doesn’t tell the whole story with Haliburton, but he’s the engine that makes this team go. He was limited on Monday, unable to drive by any defenders, and he spent most of the time standing in the corners while others initiated the offense. If he can’t be significantly more effective than he was in Game 5, the Pacers’ path to victory becomes extremely difficult.
Chris Herring: A solid 8, and maybe even that is too low. But it isn’t the performance in Game 5 that concerns me; it’s how injured he must be to have played that poorly in a moment like that. Yes, Haliburton is prone to put up occasional bad games, so it might have been just that. But the Pacers were largely awful Monday — with bad outings from Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard, ample Tony Bradley minutes and turnovers galore — yet still had a chance to win in the closing minutes. So, if Haliburton’s mobility is lessened in Game 6 as a result of his injured calf, it’s enormously concerning. Even if McConnell has more clutch performances up his sleeve, it’s hard to see Indiana squeezing out two more victories without Haliburton being right physically.
Tim Bontemps: 10. This one is pretty simple: Indiana’s season ends with one more loss, and the Pacers’ engine seems like he’ll be a good deal less than 100 percent. It doesn’t get more concerning than that.
Zach Kram: 10. This wasn’t a bad Game 5 merely because of a shooting slump or Luguentz Dort‘s lockdown defense, which would be manageable concerns. This was a bad game because of a calf injury, which doesn’t typically go away quickly and which sapped Haliburton’s movement throughout Monday’s contest.
The Pacers will extend the series if _____.
Herring: If Haliburton isn’t himself, it becomes fair to wonder whether Rick Carlisle would be better off riding McConnell as the team’s lead guard for an extended time — certainly more than the 22 minutes he played Monday — and run the offense through Pascal Siakam more often. Leaving Haliburton in because he feels he can contribute — he said if he can walk, he wants to play, given that this is the NBA Finals — gets blurry if he is struggling similarly to how he did in Game 5. Even if Haliburton isn’t 100 percent, the Pacers give themselves a much better chance by simply taking better care of the ball. Oklahoma City took what had been an eight-point edge midway through the fourth and built it into a 16-point lead in no time because Indiana had four consecutive turnovers during one key stretch.
Bontemps: They control a combination of the following stats: bench scoring, points off turnovers and 3-point shooting. And in many ways, all three are related. If Indiana takes care of the ball, hits 3s and outpaces Oklahoma City’s bench scoring (the first time a team got more bench scoring and lost in this series was Game 5), that’ll mean Indiana is dictating how the game is playing out. The Thunder thrive on creating turnovers, getting in the open floor and making open layups and 3s. Limiting those things will go a long way toward helping Indiana win.
Collier: They control the tempo in Game 6. Limiting turnovers and better health from Haliburton are a given to even have a chance, but the Pacers also are going to need the game to be played at their tempo. That means a much faster pace, running out in transition after made baskets, limiting the Thunder’s free throws and forcing them back into a half-court setting, which can turn OKC’s offense back into the iso-heavy attack it devolved into in Games 3 and 4. Putting all of those factors together is a tall task.
Kram: They score at least 110 points. Indiana is 14-0 in the postseason when it reaches that number versus 0-7 when it doesn’t. Sure, it’s simplistic, but Indiana has relied on its electric offense to power victories all season, so it’s not exactly a surprise that the Pacers win when they can score and lose when they can’t.
MacMahon: They probably need a monster performance from the proven champion on the roster. Siakam carried Indiana to what seemed like an improbable win in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals by putting up 39 points against the New York Knicks. Can he come up with that sort of an outing with the Pacers’ season on the line? Siakam has been very good in this series, averaging 20.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He needs to crank it up another notch or two for the Pacers to force a Game 7.
The Thunder win the Finals if ____.
Bontemps: They hit 3-pointers. That OKC has been winning in these playoffs while shooting as poorly as it has been at times really is something. But if the Thunder can have a hot shooting game on the road in Game 6, it’s hard to see them having to play a Game 7 given the other advantages they’ll have in their favor as well as Haliburton’s uncertain status.
Collier: They have truly solved something with Indiana’s defense. Their two stars get all the headlines, but the Thunder were overall in a much better flow on offense in Game 5. Given that defense for Oklahoma City has been a constant, if this offensive flow is sustainable, the Thunder are well-positioned to go on the road and come away with a victory.
MacMahon: They impose their will. As Chet Holmgren put it, “Luck always tends to favor the aggressors.” The Pacers play fast, but they are not a finesse team; Indiana has put the Thunder on their heels at times with its toughness. Oklahoma City flipped that in the fourth quarter of Game 4, keying the Thunder’s comeback, and amped it up in Game 5, forcing 23 turnovers that were converted into 32 points. OKC has an opportunity to put the finishing touches on one of the best defensive seasons in recent memory.
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Stephen A.: ‘Jalen Williams is special’
Stephen A. Smith praises Thunder small forward Jalen Williams after his 40-point game vs. the Pacers.
Herring: They get another 30-plus-point performance from Williams. They’ll also need another charged-up showing from Cason Wallace, who responded extremely well with 11 points and four steals in just 17 minutes after a pretty brutal Game 4 (and after being moved to the bench following Game 3). And the Thunder must win the turnover battle by double digits again, like they did during Game 4 in outscoring Indiana by a whopping 32-9 margin in points off turnovers.
Kram: At least one bench player steps up on the road. Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander were both incredible in the past two victories, but the Thunder also benefited from crucial contributions from Alex Caruso, who scored 20 points in Game 4, and Wallace and Aaron Wiggins, who combined for 25 points and seven 3s in Game 5.
An X factor in Game 6 will be ____.
Kram: Nembhard’s offense. The dogged defender has quietly regressed on offense as the playoffs have progressed. Through Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, he was averaging 14.4 points and 5.5 assists per game while making 53% of his 3-pointers. Since then, he has fallen to 9.1 points, 3.4 assists and 31% 3-point shooting; and in Game 5 of these Finals, Nembhard committed several critical turnovers that ruined Indiana’s chance at a comeback. Especially with Haliburton’s health in doubt, the Pacers’ other starting guard will need to turn in a big performance, on both ends.
Collier: Indiana’s role players have looked more comfortable at home throughout the series, and they will be important in Game 6. But simply put, if Haliburton can’t be close to his usual self driving the offense, I’m not sure there’s an X factor that can make up the difference for Indiana.
Herring: The amount of time Indiana takes to get into its offense. The Thunder’s defense was stifling in the paint during Game 5, and between Haliburton not moving well and McConnell not being much of a floor spacer — even with McConnell having an epic third period from the floor — Indiana looked stuck in the mud for long stretches, which is the opposite of how the club’s offense operates. Being at home should help, but if the Pacers can’t generate transition looks to take some pressure off of Haliburton, the night figures to end with OKC holding hardware.
MacMahon: Will Oklahoma City get production off the pine? The Thunder’s deep bench has been a major factor in each of Oklahoma City’s wins in this series. Caruso has a couple of 20-point performances after not having any during the regular season. Wiggins had 18 points in Game 2 and 14 in Game 5, hitting a combined nine 3s in those two outings (and none in the other three Finals contests). Wallace was 3-of-4 from 3-point range in Game 5 after going 0-of-8 in his first four Finals games. If Oklahoma City gets some scoring punch off the bench, plan the parade in Bricktown.
Bontemps: Can Myles Turner get going? After some incredible performances earlier in these playoffs, his numbers have fallen off in this series, including going 5-for-22 from 3. Especially with Haliburton’s role in question, Indiana could desperately use Turner going for 20-plus points and being the threat from beyond the arc he was previously in the postseason.
True or false: This series will go to Game 7
Herring: False. I’d love for it to, and the series has been largely fantastic, so there’s plenty of reason to think it will. But I believe there are simply too many questions about whether Haliburton will be himself physically to predict that the Pacers will beat the Thunder’s dominant defense again in Game 6. I hope I’m wrong so we can have a winner-take-all matchup for the title, though. Nothing would be more fun than that.
Bontemps: False. Between Haliburton’s injury and Oklahoma City continuing to show its strengths in this series — which has been wildly entertaining — I think we’ll see the Thunder win their first championship Thursday night. I guess I just haven’t learned after the way the Pacers have performed throughout these playoffs, but this feels too big of a combination of factors for them to overcome.
Collier: False. With Haliburton’s health in question and the Thunder rolling, it doesn’t feel that way. But it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if Indiana has one more magic trick to pull when it’s been counted out.
MacMahon: Per my personal policy, I don’t make predictions on series that I cover. However, I do have a flight booked to go home Friday morning.
Kram: True, if Haliburton is reasonably healthy following two off days; false, if he is as limited as he appeared in Game 5. That equivocal answer is probably cheating, but it’s impossible to properly predict the Pacers this postseason.
4. Tia Carrere was initially considered to voice the title character. Then Lea Salonga, who provided the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, was cast to provide both Mulan’s speaking and singing voices.
5. While Salonga still performed Mulan’s songs, Ming-Na Wen was later brought in to speak the role after filmmakers didn’t find Salonga’s attempts to deepen her voice as Ping to be convincing. Wen was cast after producers heard her narration in The Joy Luck Club.
“When we heard Ming-Na doing that voice-over, we knew we had our Mulan,” producer Pam Coats told The Deseret News in 1998. “She has a very likable and lovely voice, and those are the qualities we were looking for.”
6. BD Wong was cast as Captain Li Shang, though Donny Osmond provided the character’s singing voice in “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.” Osmond had previously been considered to voice the titular character in Hercules.
7. Jackie Chan voiced Li Shang in the Chinese version of the movie.
Hurricane Erick has strengthened into an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, as it heads towards Mexico’s Pacific coast, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says.
Maximum sustained winds in the storm had risen to 230km/h (145mph) late on Wednesday local time, with some additional strengthening possible.
Forecasters expect it to make landfall later on Thursday with the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero state most likely to be impacted by what the NHC says could be “devastating wind damage”.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told people in the storm’s path to “stay tuned to official communications, to stay indoors, and not go out”.
A hurricane warning is in effect for a 500km-strech (300 miles) of Pacific coast, from the resort town of Acapulco to Puerto Ángel.
Residents in Guerrero and Oaxaca have been warned of life-threatening floods and swells.
“If you are in low-lying areas, near rivers, near waterways, it is best for you to go to shelters, to the shelters that have already been set up for this situation,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said.
People living in mountainous areas have been told to beware of possible mudslides.
Around 2,000 shelters have been set up across the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca and more than 18,000 first responders have been mobilised to prepare for the hurricane.
It is expected to be the first to make landfall in Mexico this season, which runs from the start of June to the end of November.
In October 2023, at least 50 people were killed during Hurricane Otis, a category 5 hurricane that battered Acapulco.
Otis intensified rapidly, meaning many people were unprepared when the hurricane made landfall.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday announced the largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency funds linked to so-called pig-butchering scams.
The U.S. attorney’s office filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the District Court for the District of Columbia to seize more than $225.3 million in cryptocurrency that federal prosecutors say was part of a sophisticated blockchain-based money laundering network meant to conceal the source of funds obtained through illegal scams.
According to the forfeiture complaint, the FBI and Secret Service used blockchain analysis and “other investigative techniques” to determine that the funds were connected to the illegal activity.
“This seizure of $225.3 million in funds linked to cryptocurrency investment scams marks the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history,” Shawn Bradstreet, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s San Francisco office, said in a statement.
“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims. The U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and our private partners worked diligently to trace these illicit transactions, identify victims and seize these funds so that they can eventually be returned to their rightful owners,” Bradstreet continued.
Much of the illegal funds on the network were obtained through cryptocurrency confidence schemes, commonly known as “pig butchering,” which, according to the complaint, “refers to a scam in which the victim is ‘fattened up prior to slaughter.’”
These scams work by developing relationships, including those romantic in nature, whereby “perpetrators gain trust or confidence from victims to deceive them into parting with their money.”
The scams work in several phrases: First the perpetrator “cold contacts” the victim, then establishes a relationship with them and eventually convinces them to send funds. The perpetrator then cuts off contact as soon as the victim grows suspicious.
The DOJ stated that there are more than 400 suspected victims worldwide, including dozens of U.S. residents who have confirmed losses through the scams.
“Today’s civil forfeiture complaint is the latest action taken by the Department to protect the American public from fraudsters specializing in cryptocurrency-based scams, and it will not be the last,” Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s criminal division, said in a statement.
