Timeline12 cases
Covid era
Pandemic relief opened the largest government fraud losses on record, crypto platforms became both fraud vehicles and laundering rails, and organized scam compounds and deepfakes turned fraud into an industry. Cases run through June 2026.
Cash supposedly held in two Philippine trustee accounts did not exist; EY found the hole in June 2020 and Wirecard became the first DAX company to fail. COO Jan Marsalek fled and is reported to be in Russia.
Scale
€1.9 billion missing, about a quarter of the balance sheetFraudsters used fake businesses and stolen identities to draw SBA loans; the SBA Inspector General's 27 June 2023 report estimated losses.
Scale
$200 billion+, about 17% of $1.2 trillion disbursedA family office built hidden, leveraged swap positions and lied to banks about them; margin calls in March 2021 wiped out $100 billion in market value. Hwang got 18 years on 20 Nov 2024.
Scale
Portfolio grew from $10 billion to $160 billion; banks lost $9 billion+A nonprofit claimed to feed schoolchildren during COVID; FBI raids in January 2022 led to 80 indictments, and probes spread to autism therapy and housing Medicaid programs. Aimee Bock was sentenced to 500 months in May 2026.
Scale
$250 million to $350 million (meals); $1 billion+ under investigation across programsCustomer deposits were secretly used by sister firm Alameda Research; the exchange collapsed in November 2022, a jury convicted Bankman-Fried on seven counts in 2023, and he got 25 years on 28 Mar 2024.
Scale
At least $8 billion in customer fundsThe world's largest crypto exchange and its founder pleaded guilty on 21 Nov 2023; Zhao stepped down as CEO.
Scale
$4.3 billion+ paidA Hong Kong finance worker joined a video call where the CFO and colleagues were all deepfakes, then made 15 transfers; Arup reported it to police in January 2024.
Scale
HK$200 million (about US$25.6 million)The first bank in history to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering (10 Oct 2024); three networks moved money through its accounts while most transactions went unmonitored.
Scale
$18.3 trillion unmonitored; $670 million+ laundered; about $3.1 billion paidNorth Korea's TraderTraitor group compromised a Safe{Wallet} developer machine and redirected a cold-to-hot wallet transfer on 21 Feb 2025, then spread the funds across thousands of addresses.
Scale
About $1.5 billion, the largest crypto theft recordedDOJ indicted the Cambodian conglomerate's chairman on 14 Oct 2025 for running scam compounds with trafficked workers; Treasury sanctioned 146 linked people and firms and the UK sanctioned affiliates including Huione Group.
Scale
127,271 bitcoin (about $15 billion), the largest forfeiture action in DOJ historyBoth firms went bankrupt in September 2025; prosecutors allege double-pledged collateral and hidden debt. Tricolor founder Daniel Chu was charged in December 2025 and First Brands founder Patrick James in January 2026. Both deny the charges.
Scale
Tricolor: $2.2 billion pledged vs $1.4 billion real collateral; First Brands: $9 billion+ liabilitiesDOJ and HHS charged 455 defendants on 23 June 2026, including defendants returned from Estonia over a previously charged $10.6 billion scheme.
Scale
$6.5 billion+ in alleged false claims2020s
Books first, then official reports and court records, then key journalism, grouped by case.
