DOJ | Certain Risk

Representation of the Tether coin lying near a computer

Tether Has Frozen Billions of Dollars in Crypto Linked to Illicit Activity

Stablecoin issuer Tether said it has frozen about $4.2 billion of its USDT tokens over links to “illicit activity,” with most of the freezes occurring in the past three years, as authorities worldwide intensify efforts to curb crypto-related crime.

A photo of Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt. — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Deutsche_Bank_tower_Frankfurt_am_Main_2019-09-15_03.jpg License (CC0 1.0): https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Epstein Files Shine a Rare Light on ‘Family Office’ Investments

A U.S. Justice Department release tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation has unexpectedly pulled back the curtain on “family offices”—the private, often home-office-style investment operations used by many of the world’s wealthiest families.

2 November 2022; Changpeng Zhao, Co-Founder & CEO, Binance, at Media Village during day one of Web Summit 2022 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Ben McShane/Web Summit via Sportsfile — “2022 - Press Conferences BE6 1609 (52472405299).jpg” — Web Summit (photo by Ben McShane/Web Summit via Sportsfile), 2 Nov 2022, via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2022_-_Press_Conferences_BE6_1609_(52472405299).jpg — licensed under CC BY 2.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ — modified from the original.

Binance Fired Staff Who Uncovered Banned Iranian Transactions, NYT Confirms

Binance internal investigators found last year that about $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency flowed from two accounts on the exchange to Iranian entities with links to terrorist groups, raising potential violations of global sanctions.

A black-and-white view of the Charles Schwab office in Manhattan, with the sign edited to be gold — Attribution (CC BY-SA 4.0): “53rd St 6th Av td 19 - CBS Building.jpg” by Tdorante10, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0 International. This version was edited using AI (the “Charles Schwab” sign was recolored to gold; the rest remains black-and-white).

Charles Schwab and the Palace Epstein Tried to Buy Days Before His Arrest

Long after his 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution and just days before his final arrest in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein had his eyes on a palace in Morocco. He wanted to buy it, but he needed help.

Pardoned and Poolside: Zhao Returns to U.S. for Crypto Summit

Changpeng Zhao, the founder of crypto exchange Binance who was pardoned by President Trump in October, returned to the U.S. this week and attended a Trump-backed crypto conference alongside the president’s sons and senior administration officials.

An AI-edited image of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández standing on a beach wearing sunglasses. — “Conferencia sobre Prosperidad y Seguridad en Centroamérica Miami, Florida , Estados Unidos . (35194825951).jpg” — Presidencia El Salvador, via Wikimedia Commons (source: Flickr). CC0 1.0 (public domain): https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This version has been edited with AI (derivative/adapted from the original).

‘Absolutely F***ing Nuts’: Ex-Honduran Leader Got Free Waldorf Stay After Pardon

Last December, the Trump administration moved swiftly to free former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández after President Donald Trump granted him an unexpected pardon for his 2024 conviction on bribery and drug-trafficking charges. Few would’ve predicted what happened next.

An edited photo with Jeffrey Epstein's face redacted and images of his emails used as background.

Epstein Revelations Spur Criminal Investigations and an Ex-Royal Arrest

The fallout of the release of the Epstein Files continued this week, with emergence of new details of the deceased sex trafficker’s finances, the launch of additional investigations into suspicious money flows and related sexual-abuse allegations, and the arrest of a former British royal.

A photo of the top of a Deutsche Bank office in Australia, seen at dusk.

Deutsche Bank’s Relationship with Epstein Ended Only After His Final Arrest

Deutsche Bank continued providing services to Jeffrey Epstein for months after telling the disgraced financier it would end its relationship with him in late 2018 and only moved to terminate all of his accounts following his final arrest in July 2019.

DOJ building entrance, Washington, DC — G. Edward Johnson, “DOJ entrance Washington DC 2025-02-07 13-27-05.jpg” (7 Feb 2025), Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Edited from the original (changes made).

Paxful to Pay $4 Million for Helping Sex Traffickers and Money Launderers

Paxful Holdings Inc., a peer-to-peer virtual currency trading platform, was sentenced on Tuesday to pay a $4-million criminal penalty after pleading guilty to conspiracies tied to illegal prostitution, anti-money-laundering failures and transmitting criminal proceeds.

Photo of Ghislaine Maxwell wearing a large red hat and sticking out her tongue, from the Epstein files.

UBS Managed Maxwell’s Wealth Long After JPMorgan Cut Ties with Epstein

UBS AG opened accounts for Ghislaine Maxwell in early 2014 and went on to manage as much as $19 million for her in the years before she was convicted for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually traffic teenage girls, Reuters reported.