U.S. Department of Justice More Than Doubles Number of Attorneys Available To Work Criminal Crypto Cases

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is revamping the organization of its cybercrime offices and more than doubling the number of attorneys available to work criminal crypto cases, according to an official.

Nicole M. Argentieri, the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, delivered a speech on Thursday in Washington DC outlining the reorganization.

Argentieri says the DOJ is merging the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) into a single office.

Explains the official,

“This merger means that the number of Criminal Division attorneys available to work on criminal cryptocurrency matters will more than double. Any CCIPS attorney can potentially be assigned to work an NCET case. The potential for cross-over and collaboration is enormous. It’s become obvious to everyone in the cybercrime field that cryptocurrency work and cyber prosecutions are intertwined, and will become even more so in the future.”

Argentieri says the merger elevates the importance of cryptocurrency work within the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

“Merged into CCIPS, NCET will multiply the entire department’s ability to trace cryptocurrency, to charge cases involving the criminal use of cryptocurrency, and to seize legally forfeitable cryptocurrency as a way to get those funds back to victims – just as CCIPS has, historically, helped prosecutors throughout the department confront electronic evidence, intellectual property, and computer crime issues. Every modern prosecutor needs to be able to trace and seize cryptocurrency. This merger recognizes that.”

The DOJ first established NCET in late 2021.

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