Jorge Figueira, 59, faces as much as 20 years in jail if convicted of conspiracy to launder cash. In response to a criminal complaint filed in the Jap District of Virginia (Case No. 1:25-mj-730), authorities allege his community processed illicit funds throughout a number of continents whereas intentionally concealing transactions from legislation enforcement.
The Alleged Operation
Courtroom paperwork reveal that Figueira allegedly directed a complicated laundering community that operated between 2018 and the current. The operation relied on numerous financial institution accounts, cryptocurrency trade accounts, non-public digital wallets, and shell corporations to maneuver giant quantities of illicit cash into and out of the US.
The FBI recognized roughly $1 billion in cryptocurrency that handed by means of wallets linked to Figueira’s operation. “By enlisting subordinates and conducting scores of transfers, Figueira sought to hide the character of the funds, doubtlessly facilitating prison exercise in quite a few nations,” mentioned FBI Particular Agent in Cost Reid Davis.
Supply: @WuBlockchain
In response to federal investigators, the laundering course of adopted a multi-step sample. Figueira allegedly transformed money into cryptocurrency, routed digital property by means of a number of wallets, then used liquidity suppliers to trade them again into U.S. {dollars}. The funds then moved by means of Figueira-controlled financial institution accounts earlier than reaching their last locations.
A lot of the incoming funds to Figueira’s accounts got here from cryptocurrency buying and selling platforms. Nearly all of outbound transfers went to companies and people in the US and abroad, together with high-risk jurisdictions comparable to Colombia, China, Panama, and Mexico.
USDT and Tron Community Exploitation
Courtroom paperwork unsealed this month reveal that Figueira’s most popular cryptocurrency was Tether’s USDT stablecoin, which he used on the Tron blockchain to obtain giant funds earlier than changing them by means of liquidity suppliers into U.S. {dollars}.
Federal authorities quoted Figueira in intercepted communications saying: “Let me be clear with you, [USDT] is used loads for laundering cash. It’s used for what we’re doing. It’s used to switch cash in a fast method, even to make it get to jurisdictions which have some sort of points.”
Figueira allegedly boasted that he and his associates would handle as much as $700 million per 30 days, sending funds world wide. He claimed he may obtain $100 million in a single transaction together with his digital pockets.
Rising Risk of Crypto Crime
The Figueira case arrives as cryptocurrency-related crime reaches unprecedented ranges. In response to Chainalysis knowledge launched in January 2026, illicit cryptocurrency addresses obtained not less than $154 billion in 2025, representing a 162% improve from the earlier 12 months.
Stablecoins now dominate prison transactions, accounting for 84% of all illicit transaction quantity in 2025. This represents a dramatic shift from 2020, when Bitcoin accounted for roughly 70% of illicit transactions whereas stablecoins represented simply 15%. By 2025, these positions utterly reversed, with Bitcoin shrinking to roughly 7% of illicit exercise.
The shift displays stablecoins’ sensible benefits for criminals: ease of cross-border transfers, decrease volatility in comparison with different cryptocurrencies, and broader utility for changing funds. USDT, the most-traded digital asset, runs on a number of blockchains, however transactions on Tron are significantly engaging as a result of they’re quicker and cheaper than different networks.
Federal Enforcement Intensifies
U.S. Legal professional Lindsey Halligan emphasised the severity of the fees. “This case includes the alleged laundering of roughly a billion {dollars} – a scale of prison conduct that poses a profound risk to monetary programs and public security,” she mentioned. “Money laundering at this stage permits transnational prison organizations to function, increase, and inflict real-world hurt. Those that transfer illicit funds in the billions ought to count on to be recognized, disrupted, and held totally accountable below federal legislation.”
The fees in opposition to Figueira mirror intensified federal enforcement concentrating on crypto-related cash laundering nationwide. Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg lately urged New York lawmakers to criminalize unlicensed crypto operations, characterizing them as a “$51 billion prison economic system.”
Simply days after Figueira’s expenses had been filed, Tether froze over $182 million in USDT throughout 5 Tron-based wallets on January 11, 2026, following formal requests from legislation enforcement. Between 2023 and 2025, Tether has frozen roughly $3.3 billion in property from over 7,000 addresses as a part of its compliance efforts with U.S. authorities.
Federal knowledge exhibits the increasing scope of crypto-enabled crime. The FBI reported almost 11,000 crypto ATM-related complaints in 2024, totaling greater than $246 million in losses. From January by means of November 2025, that determine rose to $333.5 million.
Venezuela’s Crypto Panorama
The case emerges in opposition to the backdrop of Venezuela’s complicated relationship with cryptocurrency. Financial instability and hyperinflation have pushed widespread crypto adoption amongst peculiar Venezuelans in search of to guard their financial savings from foreign money devaluation.
Cryptocurrency transactions in Venezuela surged 110% in the second quarter of 2024 in comparison with the identical interval the earlier 12 months. Estimates recommend roughly $20 billion flowed into the Venezuelan economic system by means of cryptocurrency in 2024, representing a good portion of the nation’s $100 billion GDP.
Nevertheless, this respectable adoption exists alongside Venezuela’s use of crypto for sanctions evasion and illicit finance. The shortage of clear regulatory tips creates a grey space the place illicit operations can flourish alongside respectable financial exercise.
What Occurs Subsequent
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Legal professional Catherine Rosenberg. If convicted, Figueira faces a most sentence of as much as 20 years in federal jail. Any sentence could be decided by a federal district courtroom choose contemplating U.S. Sentencing Pointers and different statutory components.
Officers emphasize {that a} prison criticism is just an accusation, and Figueira is presumed harmless till confirmed responsible in a courtroom of legislation. Courtroom paperwork are publicly obtainable by means of the District Courtroom for the Jap District of Virginia or PACER by looking Case No. 1:25-mj-730.
The FBI continues investigating the complete scope of the alleged laundering community and its connections to transnational prison organizations.
The Billion-Greenback Reckoning
The Figueira prosecution alerts a brand new part in federal enforcement in opposition to cryptocurrency-enabled monetary crime. As digital property grow to be more and more central to each respectable financial exercise and prison operations, authorities are demonstrating their capability to hint, determine, and prosecute those that exploit these programs at huge scale. The case serves as a stark warning that the anonymity as soon as related to cryptocurrency transactions is quickly eroding in the face of refined blockchain evaluation and worldwide legislation enforcement cooperation.
