The Company Behind Stablecoin Tether. Rejected a Wall Street Journal report that it had ties to entities that falsified documents and used shell companies to maintain access to the banking system.
On March 3, The Wall Street Journal reported on leaked documents and emails that allegedly revealed that entities associated with Tether and its sister cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfinex, falsified sales invoices and transactions, hiding them in After three parties in order to open bank accounts they may not be able to open.
In a March 3 statement, Tether called the report's findings "archaic allegations from long ago" and "completely inaccurate and misleading," adding: “Bitfinex and Tether have world-class compliance programs and adhere to applicable anti-money laundering, know-your-customer and counter-terrorist financing legal requirements.” The company went on to say it is a "proud" partner of law enforcement and "regularly and voluntarily" assists authorities in the United States and abroad.
Tether and Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino tweeted on March 3 that the report contained "misinformation and inaccuracies" and suggested that the Wall Street Journal reporter was a clown. Tether and Bitfinex told Cointelegraph that they have no further comment beyond the open letter. The Wall Street Journal article outlines through its review of leaked emails and documents reported the transactions in which Tether and Bitfinex apparently maintain ties with banks and other financial institutions that, if severed, would be “a threat to their operations.” existential threat". The pair filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo.
One of the leaked emails indicated that the company's intermediaries in China attempted to "circumvent the banking system by providing false sales invoices and contracts for every deposit and withdrawal." The report also accused Tether and Bitfinex of using various means to circumvent controls that would have restricted their access to financial institutions, and of being linked to a company that allegedly laundered money for a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, among other things.
Meanwhile, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Tether is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The nature of the investigation could not be determined. Tether has faced multiple allegations of misconduct over the past few months and recently had to play down another Wall Street Journal report in early February that said four men had controlled about 86% of the company since 2018.
Likewise, it had to grapple with what it called "FUD" (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) in a December Wall Street Journal report on its guaranteed loans, and subsequently pledged to stop lending money from its reserves.
