United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

The profile

The office says it represents the United States and its agencies in civil and criminal litigation before the United States District Court and in proceedings before the United States Bankruptcy Court, and on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. It employs more than 220 assistant United States attorneys alongside administrative and support staff, works from 26 Federal Plaza and 86 Chambers Street in Manhattan and 50 Main Street in White Plains, and runs three divisions. The criminal division prosecutes financial and securities fraud, domestic, international and narco-terrorism, cybercrime, international and traditional organised crime, drug trafficking, public corruption, tax fraud and sex trafficking, and handles asset forfeiture. The civil division says most of its assistant United States attorneys are generalists handling affirmative and defensive matters. The White Plains division covers federal criminal violations in Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess and Sullivan counties. On this beat the office matters because Manhattan is where dollar clearing sits, which gives it venue over transactions that touch a correspondent account there even when every counterparty is offshore. Its verified complaint of 14 September 2026, signed by the United States Attorney James M. McDonald and four assistant United States attorneys, seeks forfeiture of all USDT in ten Tron addresses holding 61,192,367.59 USDT under 18 U.S.C. 981(a)(1)(A), (C) and (G), on the allegation that the funds are proceeds of black market sales of Iranian crude oil to buyers in China. The pleading rests on a dollar correspondent leg of about $508m and on Tether having already frozen every target address in June and July 2025.