United States of America v. Approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (BTC) Previously Stored at the Virtual Currency Addresses Listed in Attachment A, and All Proceeds Traceable Thereto

District Court, E.D. New York·Decided July 7, 2026·No. 1:25-cv-05745·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK —————————————————————x UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, : : Plaintiff, : MEMORANDUM AND ORDER : -against- : : APPROXIMATELY 127,271 BITCOIN (BTC) : 25-CV-5745 (RPK) (CHK) PREVIOUSLY STORED AT THE VIRTUAL : CURRENCY ADDRESSES LISTED IN : ATTACHMENT A, AND ALL PROCEEDS : TRACEABLE THERETO, : : Defendant. : —————————————————————x CLAY H. KAMINSKY, United States Magistrate Judge: Claimant Warp Data Technology Lao Sole Co. Ltd. (“Warp Data”) requests that this Court quash the special interrogatories propounded by the government pursuant to Supplemental Rule G(6) of the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims and Asset Forfeiture Actions. ECF No. 410. For the reasons explained below, Warp Data’s Motion to Quash is granted in part and denied in part. I. Background On October 14, 2025, the government initiated this in rem civil action seeking forfeiture of approximately 127,271 bitcoin (the “Defendant Bitcoin”) as proceeds of fraud and money laundering in connection with a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme. See Compl., ECF No. 1. The Complaint alleges that Chen Zhi, the Chairman of Prince Holding Group, operated a transnational cryptocurrency fraud scheme that “used its vast network of seemingly legitimate business enterprises to launder its criminal proceeds.” Id. ¶ 15. The government alleges that Zhi and other executives of Prince Holding Group built and operated a forced labor compound to effectuate Zhi’s fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. Id. ¶ 20. According to the

Complaint, workers were forced to execute a high volume of scams, generating a large sum of illicit proceeds that Prince Holding Group then laundered through online gambling and cryptocurrency mining operations. Id. Several parties that the government alleges were involved in this scheme have filed claims to the Defendant Bitcoin, including Warp Data, a Laos-based cryptocurrency mining company that the government alleges is a “Prince Group mining operation.” See id. ¶¶ 16(t), 40;

Warp Data’s Verified Claim of Interest (“Warp Data’s Claim”), ECF No. 64. In February 2026, the government served special interrogatories (the “Special Interrogatories”) on Warp Data pursuant to Supplemental Rule G(6), which authorizes the government to propound a limited set of interrogatories to assess a claimant’s standing in a civil forfeiture case. See Fed. R. Civ. P. Suppl. R. G(6). Warp Data responded to the interrogatories in March 2026, providing answers to some interrogatories and objecting to others. See Claimant Warp Data’s Response to

the government’s Special Interrogatories (the “Special Interrogatory Responses”), ECF No. 411-1. After a meet-and-confer, the government informed Warp Data that it would propound additional clarifying interrogatories. See Claimant Warp Data’s Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Quash (“Cl. Mem.”), ECF No. 411, at 7. The government served the additional requests (the “Supplemental Interrogatories”) on March 25, 2026. Id. By the instant motion, Warp Data asks the Court to quash both the Special Interrogatories and the Supplemental Interrogatories. Id. The government opposes the motion and asks the Court to compel Warp Data to respond to the Special and

Supplemental Interrogatories. Gov’t Resp. in Opp’n to Mot. to Quash (“Gov’t Opp’n”), ECF No. 439, at 1. II. Legal Standards To contest this civil forfeiture action, Warp Data must have standing under both the statute governing its claims and Article III. United States v. Cambio Exacto, S.A., 166 F.3d 522, 526 (2d Cir. 1999).1 To have standing under Article III,

Warp Data must have suffered (1) an injury in fact (2) traceable to the challenged action and (3) likely to be redressed by a favorable decision. Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560–61 (1992). In the civil forfeiture context, Article III standing requires “a possessory or ownership interest in the [res], which may be proven by actual possession, dominion, control, title, or financial stake.” United States v. M/Y Amadea, 770 F. Supp. 3d 558, 606 (S.D.N.Y. 2025) (quotation marks omitted), aff’d sub nom. United States v. Khudainatov, 177 F.4th 224 (2d Cir. 2026).

Standing is a threshold jurisdictional question in civil forfeiture actions. M/Y Amadea, 770 F. Supp. 3d at 605. At this stage, claimants “need not prove the full merits of their underlying claim to demonstrate Article III standing.” Khudainatov, 177 F.4th at 228–29 (internal alterations and quotation marks omitted). Instead,

1 To establish statutory standing, a claimant asserting rights in property that has been seized and that is the subject of a forfeiture action in rem must file a verified claim within fourteen days after process has been executed, unless the court grants an extension. See Supp. R. C(6). There is no dispute that Warp Data met this requirement and thus has statutory standing. claimants “need show only a facially colorable interest in the property at issue.” Id. at 229 (quoting United States v. Ross, 161 F.4th 100, 110 (2d Cir. 2025)). Rule G of the Supplemental Rules, which governs in rem forfeiture actions,

authorizes the government to probe a claimant’s standing by serving special interrogatories “limited to the claimant’s identity and relationship to the defendant property.” Fed. R. Civ. P. Suppl. R. G(6)(a). This allows the government to “test the veracity of the claimant’s claim of ownership and interest.” United States v. Two Hundred Seventy-Two Thousand Dollars & No Cents ($272,000), No. 16-CV-06564 (AMD), 2017 WL 8780158, at *3 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 26, 2017) (internal quotation marks

omitted). Claimants must answer or object to the interrogatories within 21 days. Supp. R. G(6)(b). If a claimant fails to respond to the special interrogatories, the government may move to compel the claimant’s responses under Rule 37 or may move to strike that party’s claim pursuant to Rule G. III. Analysis Warp Data makes several arguments in support of its motion to quash the government’s special interrogatories. First, Warp Data argues that special

interrogatories are unwarranted because, it asserts, the Complaint itself establishes its standing. Second, Warp Data argues that its responses to the government’s interrogatories already provide sufficient information to assess standing. Finally, Warp Data argues that certain interrogatories exceed the scope of Supplemental Rule G(6). A. The Complaint does not, by itself, establish Warp Data’s standing. Warp Data’s initial argument is that the Complaint establishes its standing to claim the Defendant Bitcoin—thus rendering the government’s Special and Supplemental Interrogatories unnecessary. This argument fails. The Complaint makes several limited references to Warp Data. First, the Complaint alleges that Warp Data managed a “large-scale cryptocurrency mining

operation” that produced large amounts of bitcoin. Compl. ¶¶ 16(t), 42. Second, the Complaint alleges that Chen Zhi and his co-conspirators laundered proceeds from the group’s cryptocurrency fraud scheme by pouring the proceeds into Warp Data’s bitcoin mining operations to “produce[] large sums of clean bitcoin dissociated from criminal proceeds.” Id. ¶¶ 40–42. Third, the Complaint explains that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s blockchain tracing determined that the Defendant Bitcoin was comprised of, in part, bitcoin associated with the mining operations of Warp

Data and another claimant—LuBian. Id. ¶ 45. The Complaint further estimates that about 30% of the bitcoin seized was newly mined. Id. ¶ 47(d) n.9. Warp Data argues that, considered together, these allegations are sufficient to establish its standing. Although allegations set forth in a civil forfeiture complaint may establish standing on its face, see United States v.

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United States of America v. Approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (BTC) Previously Stored at the Virtual Currency Addresses Listed in Attachment A, and All Proceeds Traceable Thereto, (E.D.N.Y. 2026).

United States of America v. Approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (BTC) Previously Stored at the Virtual Currency Addresses Listed in Attachment A, and All Proceeds Traceable Thereto (United States of America v. Approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (BTC) Previously Stored at the Virtual Currency Addresses Listed in Attachment A, and All Proceeds Traceable Thereto) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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