Montana Payments Firm Capstone Hit with $84M Seizure Over Alleged Fraud Scheme
A Montana-based payments firm, Capstone, has had nearly $84 million seized from its bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets by U.S. prosecutors. The civil forfeiture targets Capstone, which allegedly posed as an IT company to open accounts at major banks, including Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. The firm is accused of processing payments for crypto companies through a bank in Dominica and running a scheme that converted fraud proceeds into cryptocurrency by posing as FBI agents.
According to court filings, $81 million was seized from Capstone's accounts at Wells Fargo, and around $2 million from an account at JPMorgan Chase. Additionally, $1.2 million worth of Tether's dollar-pegged token, USDT, was taken. Tether stated that it was a customer of the Dominica bank and that its assets there were limited.
Capstone's lawyer denied any wrongdoing and plans to challenge the complaint. The Justice Department did not allege wrongdoing by Tether or the other firms involved.