Binance Faces Fresh U.S. Iran Sanctions Probe as Prosecutors Scrutinize Crypto Trades

A Sept. 22 report by Bloomberg, cited by Reuters, said federal prosecutors are looking into whether Binance knowingly allowed Iran to trade in violation of sanctions.

The inquiry follows a criminal settlement of $4.3 billion the crypto exchange had reached with U.S. law enforcement almost three years prior for sanctions, anti-money-laundering and money-transmission violations.

According to reports, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in Washington have opened a criminal investigation into Binance’s compliance with regulations and whether it knowingly handled transactions that it should have prevented from occurring.

Reuters could not independently verify the Bloomberg report about the probe, while the Justice Department declined comment on the report.

Binance said it has a zero-tolerance policy with respect to financial sanctions compliance and works with law enforcement. The company has said that its know-your-customer policy prohibits persons resident or located in Iran from accessing Binance.com. It has disputed the above reports, also claiming that it finds no evidence of Iranian involvement.

The case was reopened after another civil forfeiture complaint had been filed on September 14 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking the forfeiture of $61 million in USDT▼$0.9996, allegedly tied to sales of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and petroleum products.