An Austin, Texas business owner was offered a “managed account” with guaranteed monthly returns by a firm calling itself Ace Prime Capital. Three months and $112,000 later, the “account manager” stopped answering. Acting on the bank trail early made this one of our stronger recoveries.
How it started
A polished cold call introduced a personal “portfolio manager” who walked him through opening an account and wiring an initial deposit, framed as low-risk and professionally handled. Statements arrived monthly; returns looked steady. At the manager’s suggestion he converted part of the balance to USDT “for faster settlement.”
Where it went wrong
When he asked to withdraw a portion to cover payroll, the withdrawal was blocked behind an “account upgrade” deposit and a “profit-release” fee. The manager grew evasive, then unreachable. The monthly statements had been fabricated the whole time.
In the client’s wordsThe statements looked completely real. That is what kept me in — I was watching numbers go up while the money was already gone.
How we got it back
We split the loss into two tracks. For the bank wires we built authorized-push-payment reimbursement claims against the sending and receiving banks, documenting the social-engineering timeline. For the crypto portion we followed the USDT from his wallet to Ace Prime Capital’s collection addresses and flagged the receiving exchange. A bank reimbursement plus a frozen exchange balance, reconciled together, returned the bulk of the loss.
$90,700 of $112,000 returned to the client.
What this case teaches
“Managed accounts” with guaranteed returns and fabricated statements are among the most convincing frauds we see. Keep every wire record and act within weeks, not months — recent, well-documented transfers are the ones banks can still recall.
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