The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday it had seized some $24 million in cryptocurrencies from a scheme that defrauded “tens of thousands of Brazilians” of over $200 million.

• According to the DOJ announcement, the seizure was made after a request from Brazil for help with a large cryptocurrency fraud case that Brazilian federal police had dubbed “Operation Egypto.”  
• Several individuals, including local Marcos Antonios Fagundes, were charged as part of the scheme, which operated between August 2017 and May 2019.
• Fagundes allegedly operated an unregistered financial institution to hold the cryptocurrencies he and his compatriots took from victims, and is charged with violating money laundering and securities laws violations.
• The cryptocurrencies appear to have been held in the U.S., the DOJ said.