The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI’s New York Field Office filed a civil forfeiture action targeting approximately $61 million in cryptocurrency. Prosecutors allege the funds came from black-market sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products and were intended to finance the Iranian government and military components, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Prosecutors said the Iranian government used cryptocurrency networks to launder more than $1.5 billion in illegal oil proceeds. Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale allegedly used Binance accounts located in the United Arab Emirates to move illicit funds to the Iranian government and its agents or agencies, while non-custodial addresses identified as “Entity A” received and distributed proceeds to money services businesses, crypto addresses and an Iranian crypto exchange linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.