DOJ seeks seizure of $61 million in crypto allegedly tied to Iranian oil sales

  • SDNY prosecutors seek forfeiture of 61,192,367.59 USDT from ten Tron addresses.
  • Entity A allegedly received and distributed more than $1.5 billion in Iranian oil proceeds.
  • Tether froze eight addresses on June 15, 2025, and two on July 26, 2025.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking civil forfeiture of 61,192,367.59 USDT held across ten Tron addresses, alleging the stablecoins represent proceeds from sanctioned Iranian crude-oil sales laundered through Binance accounts and intended to benefit Tehran's military apparatus. The Southern District of New York complaint names Blessed Trust Limited and Hexa Whale Trading Limited as alleged fronts that converted oil revenue into cryptocurrency and routed funds through self-custodied wallets. Investigators said an interconnected wallet cluster known as Entity A handled more than $1.5 billion in alleged Iranian oil proceeds, with funds reaching IRGC-linked entities, wallets and an Iranian crypto exchange. Tether froze the ten addresses in June and July 2025 and is expected to burn the tokens and issue replacement USDT for transfer to an FBI-controlled hardware wallet. Binance is not a defendant and the complaint does not allege wrongdoing by the exchange, which said it had offboarded Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust after compliance reviews. The forfeiture claims remain allegations pending a final court judgment.

The information on this website is generated using AI and we cannot guarantee its accuracy. Please use it as reference information only.