Crypto scam losses top $1 million for two Wisconsin families

ELKHORN — Two Wisconsin residents are out more than $1 million, at least for now, in a sophisticated investment scam involving crypto currency under investigation by the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.

Now, the Walworth County District Attorney is suing crypto company Circle Internet Financial LLC ro recover the stolen money.

An initial appearance has been scheduled for this case on May 5, 2026, at 8:30 am, in front of the Walworth County Circuit Court Branch 3, Judge Kristine Drettwan.

According to a news release, the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by two families n December of 2024 and August 2025 in Walworth County who were targeted by a sophisticated investment fraud scheme.

In December 2024, an initial complaint reported a loss of $770,000.00 from his retirement savings to an entity operating under the name “G110 Monarch Capital Investments.”

In August 2025, a subsequent case was referred to the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Division of Securities Enforcement Bureau. In this instance, the individual reported a total loss of $460,000.00, comprising both personal retirement funds and proceeds from his late wife’s life insurance policy. This loss resulted from a coordinated romance and investment fraud scheme.

These cases were extremely technically complex, as both schemes involved the victims using third-party applications to convert funds from their bank accounts into cryptocurrency for transfer.

To assist in these investigations, the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office collaborated with other agencies. In the initial case, we partnered with the Greenfield Police Department to utilize their specialized cryptocurrency tracing expertise. In the second case, DFI’s Division of Securities Enforcement Bureau utilized its licensed forensic tools to track the flow of funds from the initial exchange to a specific digital wallet.

The investigations revealed that the perpetrators converted the majority of the stolen funds into USDC, a type of cryptocurrency issued by Circle Internet Financial LLC. Unlike volatile cryptocurrencies, USDC is pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by reserves of the same value, maintaining a stable valuation. To obscure the paper trail, the schemers utilized ‘layering’ techniques, frequently transferring assets between digital wallets and commingling them with other funds—a common form of digital money laundering.

In the first case, investigators tracked 262,900 USDC into a specific wallet. While the majority was further dispersed, a portion remained and was subsequently combined with an additional transfer of 393,000 USDC. Through advanced digital forensics, detectives identified that 460,311 USDC remained stationary in the wallet at the time of discovery. It was further discovered tha.t, of the 460,311 USDC, a little over 25,000 USDC was added by a victim from Forsyth County, Georgia.

In the second case, the DFI’s Division of Securities Enforcement Bureau analysts identified a single, direct transfer of 381,235 USDC, all of which remained secured within the target wallet. Following the forensic identification of the illicit funds, the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office successfully petitioned for judicial seizure warrants, which a Walworth County Judge authorized to freeze and seize the targeted digital wallets. Despite these court-ordered seizures, Circle Internet Financial LLC has declined to repatriate the corresponding fiat reserves to the victims, citing a lack of established legal precedent compelling the reversal of USDC transactions. In the interim, while Circle holds these frozen funds, they profit from the interest generated by the victims’ stolen assets.

In response, since Circle has not complied with a Circuit Court Judge’s seizure warrant, the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office has requested the Walworth County District Attorney’s Office, with counsel and support from the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ), to pursue litigation to challenge the current industry standards and compel Circle Internet Financial to facilitate the return of these recovered assets to the victimized residents.

The Walworth County District Attorney’s Office has filed a Criminal Complaint for the August 2025 case against Circle Internet Financial LLC for Contempt of Court – Disobey Order. An initial appearance has been scheduled for this case on May 5, 2026, at 8:30 am, in front of the Walworth County Circuit Court Branch 3, Judge Kristine Drettwan.