DOJ Blames Filing Error in MoonPay Crypto Scam Linked to Trump

- DOJ corrects filing error after mistakenly sealing crypto scam case linked to Trump associates. - Scammer impersonates Trump ally, stealing $250,000 in Ethereum from MoonPay executives. On July 23, 2025, NOTUS reported that the Department of Justice admitted to a clerical error that led to the temporary sealing of a court case involving a cryptocurrency scam tied to MoonPay executives and the Trump family. The department promptly addressed the mistake, restoring public access to the case filings within hours. In an elaborate scam, a Nigerian fraudster impersonated Trump associate and real estate mogul Steve Witkoff and subsequently defrauded MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright and CFO Mouna Ammari Siala out of $250,000 in Ethereum. The attacker employed a deceptive email strategy by swapping a lowercase “l” for a capital “I” in the word “inaugural” to create an authentic-looking domain, making Witkoff, a co-chair of Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, the unwitting link in the fraudulent solicitations. Investigators traced the wallet addresses using blockchain transaction data included in court filings, despite efforts to redact the victims’ last names for privacy. While the scam highlights the vulnerability of high-profile targets, it has also drawn criticism over the DOJ’s approach to the case. For instance, Mark Hays with Americans for Financial Reform suggested the DOJ prioritized recovery efforts due to connections with Trump. In addition, MoonPay’s prior involvement in trading the Trump-themed memecoin $TRUMP intensified scrutiny over potential political favoritism. A former D.C. prosecutor, speaking anonymously, called the complete sealing of the docket without a formal motion “highly unusual,” although they acknowledged that protecting victim-related records is standard protocol. In response to the error, on July 23, Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro explained, “The DOJ requested an amended filing to safeguard the victims’ privacy. As soon as we realized [the error], within hours, the whole docket was unsealed.” According to official market data, as of July 23 at 16:08 UTC, OFFICIAL TRUMP ($TRUMP) was trading at $10.328, showing a 4.82% drop in 24-hour trading volume.