Cryptocurrency company Tether is currently under government investigation for possible sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) violations, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The criminal investigation, led by prosecutors from the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, is examining whether Tether’s stablecoin USDT has been used by third parties to fund illegal activities, including drug trafficking, terrorism, and hacking, or to launder money from those activities.
Alleged Links to Terrorism and Weapons Dealing
According to the reportThe US Treasury Department is also considering imposing sanctions on Tether due to the widespread use of the cryptocurrency among individuals and groups already sanctioned by the US government.
These include suspected links to terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Russian arms dealers, which has led to increased scrutiny of the stablecoin issuer by authorities around the world.
The report notes that if sanctions were imposed, Tether would be barred from doing business with American companies, which would have a major impact on its operations.
Tether Responds to Investigation Claims
The Justice Department’s investigation into Tether has not yet begun; began several years ago, initially focusing on allegations that some of Tether’s sponsors may have committed bank fraud by reportedly using false documents to gain access to the global banking system.
In response to the investigation, Tether said that it does not indicate that he will face a serious investigation, calling the allegations of helping criminal actors or evading sanctions as “bad”.
In a previous statement, the company repeatedly stated that it actively cooperates with the US and international law enforcement agencies to combat illegal activities, a commitment that it believes is reflected in its performance.
For example, the company has partnered with analytics companies such as Chainalysis and TRM Labs to improve transaction monitoring, and has successfully stopped wallets identified as non-criminal in various criminal organizations in cooperation with governments around the world.
Commenting on this report, the company’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, took to social networking site X (formerly known as Twitter) again. said:
As we told the WSJ there is no indication that Tether is under investigation. The WSJ revives an old sound. Full stop.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
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