U.S. seeks to seize $61 million of crypto it claims are proceeds from Iranian petroleum sales to Chinese buyers

The U.S. has filed a civil forfeiture complaint against $61 million in cryptocurrency that it alleges proceeds from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products.

The complaint, brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, alleged Tehran used a network of cryptocurrency actors in China and elsewhere to launder more than $1.5 billion in illicit oil money intended to benefit the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. These proceeds were intended to finance the Iranian government and military components.

"Today we are seizing and seeking to forfeit more than $61 million of the Government of Iran's money, which otherwise would have promoted hostile military action and terrorist attacks against the U.S. and our allies," Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley said in a statement.

Two Chinese companies, named Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, allegedly used trading accounts at the Binance crypto exchange "to launder the proceeds of black-market sales of Iranian oil, funneling the illicit funds to the Government of Iran, its agents, and/or its proxies, where they were used to finance terrorist and other activities of the Iranian government," the statement said.

"Binance has zero tolerance for sanctions violations or illicit activity, and Binance did not permit any transactions with sanctioned individuals," a Binance spokesperson said. "We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement on this matter, and where sanctions or illicit-finance risk is identified, we will always investigate, restrict or freeze accounts where appropriate, offboard users, and report to relevant authorities."

Blessed Trust represents itself as a wealth management or virtual asset custodial services firm, the complaint said, but it had received and transferred the proceeds and provided "on-ramp" services, which allow users to exchange fiat currency for cryptocurrencies. These were conducted including through the use of U.S.-based cryptocurrency issuers.

Hexa Whale has also provided similar services, working with Blessed Trust and its affiliates.

"Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale have also used the U.S. financial system to send or receive tens of millions of dollars as part of this scheme," the complaint alleged.