Chinese Firms Used Binance to Launder Iranian Oil Money, Prosecutors Say
The New York Times
Two Chinese companies used accounts on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance to launder illegal proceeds from the sale of Iranian oil, according to the Justice Department in court papers.
In a civil forfeiture claim filed in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, prosecutors said the two companies had moved funds intended to finance the Iranian military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which the United States has classified as a terrorist organization. Binance was not charged with any wrongdoing.
A group of crypto wallets linked to Iran received more than $1.5 billion of the illegal proceeds, the complaint said, though it was not clear exactly how much of that money had moved through Binance, the world's largest crypto trading platform. The Justice Department plans to seize $61 million, currently held in a set of accounts overseen by Tether, another crypto firm, the complaint said.
The flow of illicit funds through Binance was flagged internally last year by a group of the exchange's compliance officials, according to reports in The New York Times and other outlets. Binance fired or suspended the officials after they pointed out the Iran transactions; the company said the discipline had nothing to do with their warnings.
In a civil forfeiture claim filed in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, prosecutors said the two companies had moved funds intended to finance the Iranian military, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which the United States has classified as a terrorist organization. Binance was not charged with any wrongdoing.
A group of crypto wallets linked to Iran received more than $1.5 billion of the illegal proceeds, the complaint said, though it was not clear exactly how much of that money had moved through Binance, the world's largest crypto trading platform. The Justice Department plans to seize $61 million, currently held in a set of accounts overseen by Tether, another crypto firm, the complaint said.
The flow of illicit funds through Binance was flagged internally last year by a group of the exchange's compliance officials, according to reports in The New York Times and other outlets. Binance fired or suspended the officials after they pointed out the Iran transactions; the company said the discipline had nothing to do with their warnings.
US Senate crypto bill collapses in blow to industry
Al Jazeera
The United States Senate failed to advance comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation backed by President Donald Trump, dealing a major blow to digital-asset companies and to Republicans who had championed the bill for months.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed on Tuesday to secure the 60 votes needed to advance to debate in the Senate, with safeguards governing Trump's extensive crypto interests among the biggest obstacles to a deal.
Four Republican senators, Jerry Moran, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley and Thom Tillis, joined all the Democrats in voting against it. The vote was 50-49 in favor.
The vote effectively put the bill on ice, as Congress is set to depart Washington this month ahead of the November midterm elections, in which Trump's fellow Republicans are fighting to retain control of the House of Representatives and Senate. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said the bill posed massive risks to families, national security, and the economy.
Brazil's Flávio Bolsonaro faces corruption investigation weeks before elections
NBC News
Brazilian presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro is under investigation for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion for receiving millions of dollars from a disgraced banker to finance a movie about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazil's top court unsealed several documents late Thursday showing that Sen. Bolsonaro, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's primary opponent, is under investigation for receiving 61 million reais ($12 million) from a banker at the center of a corruption scandal to produce an unreleased movie titled "The Dark Horse."
The investigation centers on whether the Bolsonaro family misused the funds and whether the payments were properly reported to Brazilian authorities, and it threatens to undermine Sen. Bolsonaro's bid for the presidency. The first round of elections is slated for Oct. 4, and the senator is locked in a tight race with Lula.
The banker, Daniel Vorcaro, who was arrested in March, is accused of defrauding many of Banco Master's 800,000 clients, including several state government pension funds, out of hundreds of millions of dollars by convincing them to make questionable investments. The scandal has engulfed several high-ranking officials in Brazil.
The allegations first became public in May. Sen. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and said Friday during a campaign event in the Amazonian city of Manaus that he was seeking private investment for the movie.
