Richard Teng Says Binance Not Sued Over Iran Oil Funds Case

Binance Co-CEO Richard Teng said on Tuesday that a U.S. civil forfeiture complaint regarding Iranian oil funds does not allege that Binance was sued or engaged in illegal activity.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office announced Monday that it filed a lawsuit seeking the forfeiture of $61 million worth of cryptocurrency linked to illicit sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) claims Chinese-American businessman Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale laundered oil revenues through Binance trading accounts, according to a civil forfeiture complaint reported by crypto media BeInCrypto on Monday.

Blessed Trust describes itself as an asset management firm while Hexa Whale presents itself as a commodities broker. The prosecutors stated that a wallet group dubbed Entity A moved over $1.5 billion in Iranian oil funds, with some proceeds flowing to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), designated by the U.S. military as a terrorist organization.

U.S. Assistant District Attorney Sean Buckley announced the action, noting Binance was not named as a defendant and that the civil forfeiture complaint remains unproven until a court ruling is issued.

Teng emphasized that Binance applies a zero-tolerance policy toward sanctions violations and does not permit transactions with sanctioned entities. He added that since the issue first arose months ago, Binance has cooperated with law enforcement, freezing accounts where illegal financial risks were identified.

Earlier this March, Teng refuted allegations made by U.S. Senate members regarding Iranian fund laundering as false and defamatory. Binance previously admitted guilt in 2023 for sanctions violations, paying a $4.3 billion fine.