U.S. prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of $61.2 million in USDT allegedly traceable to black-market Iranian oil sales that moved through a network involving Binance accounts, Hong Kong companies and U.S. financial institutions.
The civil action, filed September 14 in the Southern District of New York, targets USDT held across 10 TRON addresses. Prosecutors allege the funds originated from sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products intended to benefit the Iranian government, military components and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale Linked to Binance Accounts
Federal prosecutors allege Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale used Binance trading accounts to move proceeds from Iranian oil sold to buyers in China and convert fiat currency into cryptocurrency.
Blessed Trust presented itself to financial and crypto service providers as a wealth manager or virtual asset custodian, while Hexa Whale operated publicly as a commodities broker. The complaint alleges both instead participated in moving Iranian petroleum proceeds through cryptocurrency and conventional financial channels.
At least seven interconnected addresses grouped by investigators as “Entity A” received and distributed more than $1.5 billion in alleged Iranian oil proceeds. The network transferred crypto to IRGC-related money-services businesses, addresses tied to the group and Iranian exchange Nobitex.
The latest filing follows months of scrutiny around Binance and Iran-linked transactions. Binance has maintained that its exposure to Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale was indirect, with the exchange offboarding Hexa Whale in August 2025 and Blessed Trust in January 2026 after investigations triggered by law-enforcement inquiries.
Binance is not a defendant in the new forfeiture case. The defendants-in-rem are the USDT balances held in the 10 targeted addresses.
Tether Froze $61.19 Million Across 10 Wallets
Tether has already frozen 61,192,367.59 USDT across the addresses. Individual balances range from about $1 million to $12.76 million, with the freezes imposed in June and July 2025.
A September 14 seizure warrant authorizes the FBI to take custody of the assets. The process described in the court filing requires Tether to burn the frozen USDT and issue replacement tokens of equivalent value for transfer to a government-controlled wallet.
The action adds to broader U.S. enforcement against Iranian crypto flows. Authorities previously froze $344 million in USDT linked to Iran as investigators and sanctions agencies increased scrutiny of stablecoin infrastructure used to move state-linked funds.
U.S. Banking Rails Also Carried Hundreds of Millions
The alleged network was not confined to cryptocurrency. Prosecutors traced approximately $37.15 million in 11 wire transfers from an unnamed Hong Kong petroleum company to Hexa Whale through U.S.-based correspondent accounts between March and April 2024.
The same company allegedly sent another $443.49 million to Blessed Trust across roughly 32 transactions between November 2024 and March 2025. Hexa Whale also processed tens of millions of dollars in internal transfers through U.S. correspondent banking infrastructure.
The $61.2 million remains subject to civil forfeiture proceedings. U.S. authorities have secured a seizure warrant, but permanent forfeiture requires a judgment in favor of the government.
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