Forbes: Ex-Binance Investigator Told IRS That Management Ignored Internal Probe Into Iran-Linked Accounts

Nov 9 — According to Forbes, a previously undisclosed search warrant shows that a former senior financial crime investigator at Binance told the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in May this year that Binance management ignored calls to open an internal investigation (codenamed "Operation Loclock") into roughly 2,000 accounts suspected of being used by people inside Iran, involving about $1.2 billion in fund flows. The investigator had earlier been suspended along with several colleagues for investigating two accounts suspected of violating U.S. sanctions by transferring funds to Iran, and subsequently left the company; the investigator has now received a subpoena to testify before a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. Binance responded that it has not violated Iran sanctions, that the investigators involved were dismissed in accordance with policy for violating the company's data privacy rules, that the investigation into the accounts was never closed, and that the company will fully cooperate with law enforcement. No charges have been filed in the investigation so far.