US prosecutors are seeking to seize approximately 61.2 million USDT, allegedly generated through black-market sales of Iranian crude and petroleum products.
On Sept. 14, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed a civil forfeiture complaint targeting about 61.2 million USDT held in 10 Tron addresses. Prosecutors allege the funds were intended to support Iran’s government and military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Tether had already immobilized seven of the targeted addresses in June 2025 and the remaining three in July. A seizure warrant issued this week now authorizes federal agents to transfer the value into government custody.
Executing the warrant will depend on Tether’s control over USDT. The stablecoin issuer would burn the frozen tokens and issue replacements of equivalent value for transfer to an FBI-controlled hardware wallet, according to the complaint.
The process would allow US authorities to take custody of sanctioned funds without obtaining the private keys controlling the original wallets. It also illustrates the expanding role of stablecoin issuers in financial-crime enforcement.
Days before the Iranian filing, Tether said the Justice Department credited it with assisting in a separate action involving more than $52 million linked to Xinbi Guarantee, an alleged money-laundering marketplace.
Tether says it has worked with more than 340 law-enforcement agencies in 67 countries and helped freeze over $5 billion connected to suspected illicit activity.
How investigators traced a $1.5 billion oil network through Binance
The 61.2 million USDT sought in forfeiture represents only a fraction of the broader network described in prosecutors’ complaint.
Investigators identified a cluster of at least seven interconnected Tron addresses, referred to as “Entity A,” that received and distributed more than $1.5 billion in alleged proceeds from illicit Iranian oil sales. The addresses reportedly sent cryptocurrency to Iran-based exchange Nobitex and to Middle Eastern money transmitters investigators believe were fronts for the IRGC.
Hong Kong-incorporated Blessed Trust Limited and Hexa Whale Trading Limited allegedly helped convert oil-sale proceeds from fiat currency into cryptocurrency and route the funds through Binance, the world’s largest crypto trading exchange by volume. Blessed Trust presented itself as a wealth-management and digital-asset custody firm, while Hexa Whale described itself as a commodities broker, prosecutors said.
The alleged network also used conventional US banking channels. An unnamed company sent approximately $37.15 million to Hexa Whale through US correspondent accounts in March and April 2024, according to the complaint.
The same company allegedly transferred another $443.49 million to Blessed Trust between November 2024 and March 2025 through correspondent accounts. Those transfers form part of prosecutors’ reconstruction of the wider financing network but are separate from the 61.2 million USDT targeted for forfeiture.
Binance denies involvement
Binance is not accused of wrongdoing in the case, a distinction Chief Executive Richard Teng emphasized after the filing became public.
“This case was not filed against Binance and does not allege any wrongdoing by Binance.”
Teng said the exchange maintains “zero tolerance” for sanctions violations and illicit activity and has cooperated with law enforcement since the matter was raised months ago. Binance investigates, restricts or freezes accounts where sanctions or illicit-finance risks emerge, offboards users when appropriate and reports them to authorities, he added.
His comments draw a distinction between alleged actors using Binance accounts and the exchange knowingly facilitating their activity. The two actions also demonstrate complementary enforcement points: Tether can immobilize stablecoins themselves, while exchanges can control access to trading accounts.