U.S. authorities are filing a civil forfeiture complaint targeting approximately $61 million in cryptocurrency tied to black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, used trading accounts at Binance to launder the proceeds and funnel them to the Government of Iran, its agents, proxies, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organization.
Blessed Trust allegedly presented itself to financial and cryptocurrency service providers as a wealth management and virtual asset custody firm. Prosecutors say the company instead handled proceeds from Iranian crude oil and petroleum product sales and helped clients convert traditional currency into cryptocurrency through so-called “on-ramp” services, including transactions involving US-based crypto issuers.
Hexa Whale similarly marketed itself as a commodities brokerage, but allegedly provided many of the same services as Blessed Trust while working with the company and its affiliates.
According to prosecutors, both firms served clients in China’s petroleum and petroleum products industry.
A network of unhosted cryptocurrency addresses known as Entity A received and distributed more than $1.5 billion in illicit oil proceeds, with the Chinese firms also using the U.S. financial system to send or receive tens of millions of dollars as part of the scheme.
Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean S. Buckley is highlighting the broader impact of the action.
“Today’s action demonstrates our determination to deprive the Government of Iran and its terrorist proxies of the illegal money they rely on to threaten the lives and safety of the citizens of the United States and elsewhere. The Government of Iran relies on black-market sales of sanctioned crude oil to fund its military and foster terrorism in the Middle East and around the world, along with other malign efforts to develop a nuclear program and ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear payloads. As alleged in the complaint filed today, the Government of Iran 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 terror-designated IRGC. 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.”
The complaint consists of allegations only and remains unproven until a court judgment.
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