An audit report evaluating the United States Marshals Service’s (USMS) management of seized crypto from FY 2017 to FY 2021 has been released by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The USMS is the primary custodian of the DOJ’s seized assets and, as of June 2021, managed nearly 200 DOJ cryptocurrency seizures.
The report found that although the USMS has implemented adequate safeguards for the storage of seized assets, they find it difficult to manage and track the seized assets.
The current policies related ‘to asset storage, quantification, valuation, and disposal are inadequate or absent, and in some instances provide conflicting guidance,’ said the report.
The audit also noted that the agency’s usage of tangential spreadsheets to document digital currency inventories results in inaccuracies.
The report suggests seven recommendations to rectify this situation including the development and implementation of ‘policies and procedures to handle cryptocurrency forks that occur for an asset in custody.’
Another suggestion is to develop policies for ‘storage of, and physical controls over, seized cryptocurrency once it is transferred into USMS custody.’
As of September 2021, the crypto assets seized by the DOJ in the custody of USMS were valued at $466 million.
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