Manhattan federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking about $61 million in cryptocurrency they allege was tied to laundering proceeds from black‑market Iranian oil sales funneled through Binance trading accounts. The complaint names two Hong Kong entities, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale Trading, and says the targeted funds were part of a broader operation that allegedly moved over $1.5 billion in illicit oil proceeds toward Chinese buyers.
The probe is being led by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office with involvement from the DOJ Criminal Division in Washington. Authorities say Hexa Whale processed roughly $490 million in trading volume while Blessed Trust’s volume reached about $1.2 billion, and Binance offboarded the accounts in August 2025 and January 2026 respectively. Reports and earlier internal findings cited by investigators have also suggested as much as $1.7 billion flowed to Iran‑linked wallets. Binance has said it maintains a zero‑tolerance policy for sanctions violations, is cooperating with law enforcement and is committed to shutting down bad actors. The civil forfeiture targets assets, not the exchange as a defendant, and an investigation does not itself establish wrongdoing.
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