DOJ Seeks Forfeiture of $61M in Iran-Linked Cryptocurrency

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have filed a civil forfeiture complaint targeting approximately $61 million in cryptocurrency they allege represents proceeds from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products.

The Southern District of New York said the action is intended to deprive the Government of Iran and military-linked actors, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, of funds allegedly generated through the oil trade. The government says it is seizing and seeking forfeiture of the assets; a court has not yet awarded final judgment.

The alleged route

According to the complaint, two China-linked companies named Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale used trading accounts at Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the United Arab Emirates, to receive and move proceeds connected to Iranian petroleum sales.

Prosecutors allege the companies worked with a broader cluster of unhosted addresses described as “Entity A.” That network allegedly received and distributed more than $1.5 billion in oil-sale proceeds and sent funds to IRGC-related money-services businesses, cryptocurrency addresses and an Iranian exchange.

The filing also says the network used U.S.-based cryptocurrency issuers and sent or received tens of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system. Those connections supply the jurisdictional and tracing context described by the government; they do not establish that every platform or issuer touching the transactions participated in the alleged conduct.

A tracing case, not a verdict

The case shows how blockchain records can be combined with exchange accounts, banking activity and sanctions intelligence to build a civil asset-forfeiture claim. Public ledgers can preserve transaction paths, but attribution still depends on evidence connecting addresses, accounts and people.

That distinction matters. The DOJ explicitly states that a civil forfeiture complaint is only an allegation that property was involved in, or represents proceeds of, a crime. The allegations remain unproven unless a court enters judgment in favor of the United States.

What comes next

The next durable evidence will come from the court: claims to the assets, challenges to the government's tracing, evidentiary rulings and any final forfeiture order. Until then, the defensible description is narrow—the United States has filed a claim against approximately $61 million in crypto, not secured a final adjudication of the alleged laundering network.

Sources and disclosures

Primary sources: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the attached civil forfeiture complaint, observed September 15, 2026. All descriptions of the oil-sale and laundering network are attributed allegations.

Update note

Observed September 15, 2026 at 10:55 BRT. No final forfeiture judgment was identified at that time.