US Seeks to Seize $61M in Cryptocurrency Linked to Black-Market Iran Oil Sales

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

The complaint, brought by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, claims that Tehran used a network of cryptocurrency actors in China to launder more than $1.5 billion in illicit oil money intended to benefit the Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The proceeds were allegedly funneled through trading accounts at Binance, with two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, involved in the laundering process.

The US seeks to seize the $61 million in cryptocurrency, which it claims would have otherwise promoted hostile military action and terrorist attacks against the US and its allies.