Two Thai entrepreneurs have filed a lawsuit against Tether in a New York court concerning the freezing of $42.4 million in USDT. According to the plaintiffs, the company blocked the funds in October 2025 without a proper court order. Tether allegedly acted on an unofficial request from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as part of an investigation into a $61 million fraud scheme known as a "pig butchering" scam. An asset seizure order was only issued by authorities in the Eastern District of North Carolina in February 2026. While the plaintiffs do not dispute the connection between the funds and the scam, they question Tether's authority to impose such a freeze.