U.S. prosecutors announced that they have filed a civil lawsuit to seize about $61 million in cryptocurrency as part of the proceeds from the sale of Iran’s crude oil and petroleum products under sanctions on the black market.

According to the lawsuit, the funds were intended to finance the Iranian government and military institutions, including the IRGC.

Sean S. Buckley, the deputy U.S. attorney, said: “A network of cryptocurrency actors in China and other countries laundered more than $1.5 billion of the proceeds from the illegal sale of Iranian oil.”

Based on the allegations put forward in the lawsuit, two Chinese companies named Blessed Trust and Hexa Whale are accused of using their accounts on the Binance exchange to transfer and launder the proceeds from the sale of Iran’s oil.

The U.S. Department of Justice said that part of these funds was transferred to companies and crypto addresses linked to the IRGC and an Iranian cryptocurrency exchange.

The deputy attorney said: “This action demonstrates our commitment to deprive the Iranian government and its terrorist proxy forces of the illicit money on which they rely to threaten the lives and security of U.S. citizens and other countries.”