The U.S. Department of Justice says the financial scheme of a terrorist organization was disrupted after authorities confiscated a substantial amount of the group’s crypto funds.

In a statement, the DOJ announces the seizure of $201,400 in USDT held in wallets and accounts set up to support the activities of Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that the US, UK and other nations have designated as a terrorist organization.

The funds were stored in accounts registered in the names of Palestinian individuals living in Turkey and elsewhere, including three wallets with around $111,500 in cryptocurrency and other addresses with assets valued at approximately $89,900.

The DOJ says the funds were traced from purported Hamas fundraising addresses that were used to launder over $1.5 million in crypto since October 2024.

According to court documents, a group chat on an encrypted communications platform encouraged the movement’s supporters to donate money by sending funds to a changing set of at least 17 crypto addresses.

The funds were then funneled into an operational wallet and laundered through a series of crypto exchanges and transactions with the help of suspected financiers and over-the-counter brokers.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda, of the Albuquerque Field Office, says that disrupting the group’s access to the funds weakened their ability to function.

“This success demonstrates that financial warfare is a critical component to fight terrorism. We will continue to do everything in our power to protect the American people and pursue justice by depriving terrorist organizations of the resources they need to continue their illicit activity.”

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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A Bank of America insider is pleading guilty to boosting a global money laundering conspiracy that aided drug traffickers and other illegal businesses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The DOJ says former Bank of America employee Rongjian Li was a member of a money laundering and drug trafficking outfit headed by Jin Hua Zhang.

According to prosecutors, Li used his position at the bank from 2021 through 2022 to help the criminal organization open several accounts.

Zhang’s organization then used the BofA accounts, some of which were registered using forged passports, to launder illicit funds.

“As part of his involvement, when the bank’s financial auditing systems flagged or froze accounts for suspicious activity, Li helped Zhang circumvent the bank’s anti-money laundering protocols and move illicit funds elsewhere.

In addition, Li was observed sitting next to Zhang at a dinner in New York, where Zhang discussed the different fee percentages he charged various criminal groups for drug trafficking and scams.”

Zhang’s organization is believed to have laundered millions of dollars in a span of months, according to the DOJ.

“The investigation revealed that, for a fee, Zhang laundered bulk cash for drug dealers and laundered profits from other illegal businesses. In less than a year, Zhang and his organization laundered at least $25 million worth of drug proceeds and funds from other illegal businesses through undercover agents.”

Li has pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces a monetary fine and a prison sentence.

“The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the amount involved, whichever is greater.”

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One of the operators of sanctioned Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex was arrested in India on Tuesday, according to two recent news reports.

Lithuanian national and Russian resident Aleksej Besciokov, 46, was reportedly arrested by police in the Indian state of Kerala, while vacationing on the country’s southern coast with his family, Techcrunch and KrebsonSecurity reported.

Last week, a coalition of international law enforcement agencies from the U.S., Germany and Finland seized Garantex’s domains and servers and froze nearly $28 million in crypto tied to the exchange with the help of stablecoin issuer Tether. The exchange was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) in 2022, for knowingly facilitating money laundering for ransomware actors, including Conti and Black Basta, and darknet markets like Hydra, the largest such market in the world before its closure in 2022.

In addition to allegedly facilitating money laundering for criminals, including North Korea’s in-house hacking squad the Lazarus Group, which was behind the massive $1.5 billion Bybit heist last month, Garantex reportedly played a large role in sanctions evasion. Upscale sanctions evasion services like the TGR Group, which cater to Russian oligarchs, have been connected to the exchange.

Read more: Sanctioned Russian Crypto Exchange Garantex Seized, Operators Charged With Money Laundering

In conjunction with the seizure, U.S. prosecutors charged Besciokov and another of Garantex’s operators, 40-year-old Russian Aleksandr Mira Serda, a resident of the United Arab Emirates, with money laundering conspiracy. Besciokov is currently listed on the U.S. Secret Service’s Most Wanted list.

Neither the Kerala police nor the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) responded to CoinDesk’s request for comment about Besciokov’s reported arrest.