United States of America: US District Court for the District of Arizona ordered return of approximately USD 120'000 in digital assets from relief defendant

On 12 March 2025, the United States District Court for the District of Arizona ordered the transfer of approximately USD 120'000 in digital assets from a wallet held by relief defendant Zhang Cheng Yang to a defrauded investor. The court found that Zhang, a suspected Chinese national, acted as a money mule in a fraudulent digital asset scheme operated by Debiex. His cryptocurrency wallet was used to receive and conceal proceeds misappropriated through an online romance scam targeting United States-based individuals. The court directed that specific assets held in Zhang’s account on a digital asset exchange, including 62.94 ETH and 5.7 USDT, be returned to the affected customer. The order forms part of a broader enforcement action initiated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on 19 January 2024, when it filed a civil complaint against Debiex alleging fraud and misappropriation related to digital asset commodity trading.