US federal prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of about $84.2 million in cash and USDT held in Capstone Limited’s name in a civil case alleging the payments firm operated as an unlicensed money transmitter. The public complaint itself does not name Tether or Bitfinex.
The Financial Times, as reported by Finextra, identified Tether and its affiliated exchange Bitfinex as the two unnamed crypto firms referenced in the case. That distinction is important because the companies’ identities come from the FT’s reporting rather than from the public complaint.
A September 14 federal court order lists $79.11 million from a Wells Fargo Securities account, $1.86 million from Wells Fargo Bank and $2.06 million from JPMorgan Chase. It also covers about 1.18 million USDT held across two cryptocurrency addresses.
Prosecutors allege Capstone presented itself to banks as an IT services business while moving money at the direction of Dominica-based EQIBank. The complaint also links Capstone to an alleged scheme in which fraudsters impersonating FBI agents converted stolen funds into stablecoins. PYMNTS reported further details from the filing.
Tether has confirmed that it is an EQIBank customer and said it had no knowledge of the conduct alleged against Capstone. The company separately told PYMNTS that its exposure to EQIBank represented less than 0.034% of the group’s total assets.
Capstone denies wrongdoing and plans to challenge the government’s forfeiture action. EQIBank has also sought the return of assets it says were held through Capstone, while the forfeiture proceeding remains unresolved and no final judgment has determined ownership of the seized property.
