The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) thanked stablecoin issuer Tether for its assistance in aiding an investigation by freezing approximately 10,000 Canadian dollars ($7,186) in Tether stablecoins stolen from an individual, which has since been returned to the victim.
Tether worked alongside the OPP’s Cyber Investigations Team to recover the funds, and following the successful operation, Addison Hunter — detective staff sergeant of the OPP — remarked:
“With the voluntary assistance and cooperation of Tether International Ltd., the stolen digital assets were successfully seized and returned to the victim. This collaboration was instrumental in ensuring the swift recovery of the assets.”
Tether CEO Paolo Adoino also highlighted the company’s commitment to “Supporting law enforcement efforts to combat cybercrime,” and will continue to work with law enforcement officials worldwide to “Hold bad actors accountable and, ultimately, support the victims.”
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Tether’s long history supporting law enforcement agencies
Ardoino’s statements are supported by years of Tether cooperating with law enforcement authorities and freezing funds when requested to do so by state officials. In July 2020, Tether blacklisted 39 Ethereum network addresses that collectively held roughly $46 million in USDt (USDT).
At the time, industry executives characterized the asset freeze as a “precautionary” measure to combat illicit activities in cooperation with law enforcement.
The stablecoin firm later collaborated with crypto exchange Bitfinex to freeze more than $33 million USDt stolen in the September 2020 hack of the KuKoin exchange — which left the popular exchange drained of approximately $200 million.
Tether proceeded to blacklist additional addresses in January 2022 — freezing $150 million in USDt. No official reason was given for freezing the funds, and the stablecoin issuer blacklisted 312 different addresses during the previous year.
More recently, in December 2023, Tether announced a wallet freezing policy for individuals and entities sanctioned by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The new policy was enacted after US lawmakers placed pressure on the company to enforce sanctions and scrutinized the company for allegedly being a tool for terrorist organizations to launder money and obtain financing.
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