U.S. Seeks Forfeiture of $61 Million in Crypto Tied to Iranian Oil Sales on Binance

RegulationDigital FinanceGeopolitics
โดย Yahoo Finance·USIR·Read original
Summary · why it matters

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York filed a civil forfeiture complaint Tuesday targeting roughly $61 million in cryptocurrency that prosecutors say was generated through illegal sales of Iranian crude oil and petroleum products on the black market. Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley and FBI New York Field Office Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle, Jr. announced the action, with Buckley saying the government is seizing and seeking to forfeit more than $61 million of the Government of Iran's money. According to the complaint, two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, used trading accounts at the cryptocurrency exchange Binance to launder proceeds from illegal Iranian oil sales, funneling funds to the Iranian government and its proxies, including Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Prosecutors also identified a web of interconnected unhosted cryptocurrency addresses, grouped in the complaint under the label Entity A, through which more than $1.5 billion in revenue from unlawful Iranian oil transactions has flowed. Stablecoin issuer Tether will, under the arrangement described in the complaint, destroy the tokens sitting in the flagged addresses and mint new tokens of equivalent value, which will then be handed over to U.S. government custody. Binance said in a statement that it has zero tolerance for sanctions violations or illicit activity and that it did not permit any transactions with sanctioned individuals.

Impact on stocks 0

Theme Impact 2

Off-coverage companies 4

Blessed Trust LimitedPrivate▼ Negative
Regulationrelevance

Blessed Trust is accused of using Binance accounts to launder proceeds from illegal Iranian oil sales.

Hexa Whale Trading LimitedPrivate▼ Negative
Regulationrelevance

Hexa Whale is accused of using Binance accounts to launder proceeds from illegal Iranian oil sales.

BinancePrivate▼ Negative
Regulationrelevance

Binance accounts were allegedly used by Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale to launder Iranian oil proceeds, drawing sanctions/illicit-activity scrutiny.

TetherPrivate▼ Negative
Regulationrelevance

Tether is named as the issuer that must destroy flagged tokens and hand equivalent value to U.S. custody in the forfeiture action.

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