US Seizes $84M Tied to Tether and Bitfinex in Banking Crackdown

The US Department of Justice has seized $84.2 million from bank accounts linked to Capstone, a payment firm that handled hundreds of millions of dollars for Tether and Bitfinex.

Federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture complaint against Capstone's accounts on July 15, 2026, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California. The case centers on Capstone Limited, a Sacramento-based company run by Kotaro Shimogori and Mary Jeanne Thompson.

Prosecutors allege that Capstone served as a link between EQIBank and the US banking system. However, they say Capstone told US banks it was an IT services company, when in reality, it was handling international money transfers without the required license.

The amount of money moving through Capstone was significant. Court documents show that more than $700 million passed through one Capstone account over several months. About $337 million was then sent to hundreds of people and companies, with nearly two-thirds of that money reportedly processed for Tether and Bitfinex.