Richard Teng Says Binance Is Not Accused: So Why the $61 Million Seizure?

Richard Teng, Binance’s co-CEO, said on Tuesday that a US forfeiture case over Iranian oil money was not filed against the exchange and does not allege any wrongdoing by it.

Prosecutors in Manhattan brought the case on Monday, seeking about $61 million in cryptocurrency they say came from black market sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil.

What the DOJ Complaint Alleges

The Department of Justice (DOJ) says two Chinese companies, Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale, used trading accounts at Binance to launder the oil proceeds. BeInCrypto reported the forfeiture filing on Monday.

Blessed Trust presents itself as a wealth management firm, Hexa Whale as a commodities broker. Prosecutors say a group of wallets they call Entity A moved more than $1.5 billion in Iranian oil money.

Some funds reached Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a military branch the US designates as a terrorist organization, the filing says.

Deputy US Attorney Sean Buckley announced the action. Binance is not named as a defendant, and a civil forfeiture complaint is an allegation that is not proven until a court rules.

What Binance Said

Teng said Binance has zero tolerance for sanctions violations and did not permit transactions with sanctioned individuals.

He said the exchange has cooperated with law enforcement since the matter was first raised months ago, and that it freezes accounts where it identifies illicit finance risk.

“If you seek to use our industry to evade the law, we will find you, freeze you out, and hand you over to the authorities,” Teng said in a post.

In March, Teng called US Senate allegations of Iranian laundering false and defamatory. The exchange pleaded guilty to US sanctions violations in 2023 and paid a $4.3 billion penalty.

The case sits with the Southern District of New York, where a judge will decide whether the funds can be forfeited.