DOJ Seeks $61M in Iranian Oil Proceeds Laundered Through Binance Accounts

Bitcoin Magazine DOJ Seeks $61M in Iranian Oil Proceeds Laundered Through Binance Accounts The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday it is seizing and seeking to forfeit $61 million in cryptocurrency that it alleges came from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian oil.

That sum is a fraction of the operation prosecutors describe in the civil forfeiture complaint.

A cluster of self-custodied wallets received and distributed more than $1.5 billion in oil proceeds, routing funds to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked businesses, other crypto addresses and an Iranian exchange, according to the filing.

Two China-based firms, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, allegedly used trading accounts at Binance to launder proceeds and funnel them to the Iranian government and its proxies. It comes after the U.S. tries to crack down on Iran’s use of the leading cryptocurrency: the U.S.