US Authorities Want to Seize $770,000 in Crypto From NZ Sex Trafficker

Christchurch-born Michael James Pratt is awaiting trial for sex trafficking and was on the FBI’s 10 most-wanted list when he tricked women into doing porn.

The photographs of fugitive Michael James Pratt issued by the FBI in 2022. Courtesy of FBI

A New Zealander who was behind a production company which tricked women into becoming online porn stars—making him $17 million (NZ$30 million) before he was caught—is now facing the prospect of having $770,000 (NZ$1.3 million) in cryptocurrency seized by American authorities as he awaits trial for sex trafficking.

It isn’t often a New Zealander makes the FBI’s top ten most wanted fugitives list, but Michael James Pratt achieved that distinction.