The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize $61 million in cryptocurrency that prosecutors say was connected to black market sales of Iranian oil.

According to the complaint, the funds passed through Binance accounts associated with two China-based firms, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, before ultimately reaching Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, which the US designates as a terrorist organization.

Complaint targets funds, not Binance

The filing was submitted on September 14 and is aimed at the cryptocurrency itself, along with Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, rather than Binance as a defendant. Prosecutors say the assets are subject to forfeiture because of their alleged role in a sanctions-evasion and oil proceeds network.

The case focuses on the movement of crypto through accounts that prosecutors tie to the two firms. While Binance is central to the alleged transaction path described in the complaint, the Justice Department did not bring the exchange itself into the case as a defendant.

Alleged route to the IRGC

Federal prosecutors allege that Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale held trading accounts through which the $61 million moved before the funds reached the IRGC. The complaint links the transactions to black market Iranian oil sales and presents the crypto as part of a broader financing chain.

The DOJ also describes a wider wallet network it calls Entity A. Prosecutors allege that Entity A moved more than $1.5 billion in illicit proceeds from Iranian oil, channeling money to services linked to the IRGC and to an Iranian exchange.

Earlier scrutiny and Binance response

Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale were also identified earlier this year in a Senate probe, placing the two firms at the center of prior US scrutiny over alleged Iran-related activity.

In March, Binance rejected the allegations tied to that scrutiny, calling them false and defamatory. The exchange also pointed to its compliance efforts in response to the claims.

What comes next

The forfeiture complaint marks another instance in which Binance-linked accounts have appeared in reporting and investigations related to Iranian sanctions issues, though the present action is limited to the assets and the two named firms.

The timing is notable because the filing comes ahead of Binance’s planned bid for a UK license and an authorization process with the Financial Conduct Authority under Britain’s new crypto framework. The next confirmed step is the civil forfeiture case itself, in which prosecutors will seek to establish their claims over the targeted cryptocurrency.

Source: beincrypto.com