U.S. Department of Justice: National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team to Merge into Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section

ChainCatcher News, U.S. Department of Justice Chief Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri delivered a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stating that starting this week, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) will be merged into the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). The NCET will investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute criminal offenses involving the abuse of cryptocurrency, including working with the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) of the Criminal Division to investigate and prosecute cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitate money laundering.

This merger means that the number of criminal division attorneys who can handle cryptocurrency criminal cases will more than double, and it elevates the cryptocurrency work within the criminal division to the same level as computer crime and intellectual property work. At the same time, the NCET will enhance the department's ability to track cryptocurrency, prosecute cases involving cryptocurrency crimes, and seize legally forfeited cryptocurrency to return these funds to victims. Additionally, NCET's first director, Eun Young Choi, has departed, and Claudia Quiroz will serve as the acting director of the NCET.