US Department of Justice Seeks Civil Forfeiture of $61 Million in Virtual Assets Linked to Iranian Oil

The US Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit targeting virtual assets worth $61 million (approximately 822 billion won), claiming the funds are linked to illicit sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on April 14 (local time) that the assets were allegedly channeled to the Iranian government, military organizations, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to the filing, two Chinese companies used Binance accounts based in the United Arab Emirates to launder proceeds from the sale of Iranian oil. The complaint states that over $1.5 billion (approximately 2 trillion won) in oil sales revenue was transferred through virtual asset addresses to Iran.