The FBI has successfully recovered $8.2 million from a cryptocurrency scam that precipitated the collapse of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, Kansas. Nearly a year after the fraud was exposed in 2024, the funds were returned to local shareholders.
The bank’s former CEO, Shan Hanes, was sentenced to 24 years in prison after embezzling $47 million through a "pig butchering" cryptocurrency investment scam, in which fraudsters posed as legitimate cryptocurrency investment brokers. Approximately 30 shareholders—including farmers, teachers, and small business owners—lost their savings in the scheme, though depositors’ funds were safeguarded by federal insurance. Returning their money to them is an incredibly powerful feeling, said Emilee Thompson, a forfeiture specialist at the FBI’s Kansas City field office.
During the successful investigation, authorities traced the stolen funds to an overseas cryptocurrency wallet and seized them—an uncommon outcome in digital financial crime cases. The Kansas bank fraud underscores the rising threat of cryptocurrency scams, which, according to an FBI statement, resulted in reported losses of $5.6 billion in 2023. At the same time, it highlights the growing capability of law enforcement agencies to track illicit digital transactions.
Sources:
1.
Vanessa
2.
Coinfomania News Room
3.
A multimillion-dollar crypto fraud led to the collapse of a rural bank and landed its CEO a 24-year prison sentence. The FBI, however, successfully recovered a portion of the stolen funds.
