Binance Accused of Facilitating $61mn Laundering Scheme Through Chinese Groups

US prosecutors have accused Chinese groups of using Binance to launder $61mn from Iranian oil deals. The allegations were made in a recent court filing, which revealed that these groups allegedly used the cryptocurrency exchange to disguise the illicit funds as legitimate transactions.

The US government alleges that between 2019 and 2021, the Chinese groups, who are not named in the filing, carried out multiple trades on Binance using fake identities. These trades were reportedly used to transfer Iranian oil revenue into various digital wallets, which were then cashed out for fiat currency.

The court document states that these transactions were facilitated by Binance's lack of effective anti-money laundering (AML) measures, allowing the Chinese groups to exploit the system and conceal their illicit activities. The total amount laundered through this scheme is estimated at $61mn.