Thai businessmen sue Tether for freezing $42M in $61M pig butchering case

The plaintiffs didn’t dispute their involvement in the pig butchering scam, but claimed that Tether did not have the authority to freeze the $42 million at the time.

Two Thai businessmen sued stablecoin issuer Tether in a New York district court, claiming it illegally froze $42.4 million in Tether USDt (USDT) in October, as part of a broader case tied to a pig butchering scheme.

In a Monday court filing, the plaintiffs claimed that Tether illegally froze the $42 million without a warrant in October 2025, following an informal request from US Homeland Security Investigations.

Authorities in the Eastern District of North Carolina only issued a seizure warrant for the funds later in February 2026, as part of a $61 million pig butchering case. The warrant directed the burn and reissuance of the tokens to a government wallet. 

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