US Seeks to Seize $61 Million in Tether Linked to Iranian Oil Sales
- US prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture complaint on Sept. 14 targeting approximately $61.2 million in USDT across ten Tron addresses.
- The funds are alleged to be linked to black-market sales of Iranian oil, benefiting the government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
- Tether had previously frozen seven addresses in June and three more in July, immobilizing the targeted tokens.
- Prosecutors traced a wider network involving at least seven addresses that handled over $1.5 billion from illicit oil sales, with connections to exchanges like Binance.
- An unnamed company reportedly transferred approximately $443 million through US banking channels as part of this network.
The case illustrates how stablecoins like USDT can be used as enforcement tools by authorities to seize allegedly sanctioned funds without needing private keys for original wallets.
This seizure represents a significant enforcement action against cryptocurrency linked to Iranian oil sales, highlighting the complexities of illicit finance in the crypto space, particularly involving over $1.5 billion identified by prosecutors.
