Tether defends itself against WSJ’s claims of fake documents

Tether has dismissed the Wall Street Journal report published on Friday, which claims Tether and Bitfinex have ties to companies that falsify documents and use shell companies to gain access to the banking system.

According to the WSJ report, Bitfinex and Tether allegedly opened nine new bank accounts for shell companies in Asia in October 2018. The report also mentioned Crypto Capital Corp, a “shadow bank” that held Tether funds before its closure by authorities in 2018, along with other entities.

Tether’s March 3 statement calls WSJ findings “stale allegations from long ago,” which are “wholly inaccurate and misleading.”

Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether and Bitfinex, also spoke out on Twitter:

I'm at the PlanB anniversary in #lugano
So much energy and people excited to talk about #Bitcoin
While I was on on stage I heard some clown honks, pretty sure was WSJ.
As always ton of misinformation and inaccuracies. Poor guys, must be difficult be them but need better media.

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) March 3, 2023

The report accuses Tether and Bitfinex, among other things, of using various methods to evade financial institution restrictions and having ties to a company that allegedly laundered funds for a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Meanwhile, a person familiar with the matter told WSJ that Tether is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. However, the exact nature of the investigation remains unclear.

Tether addressed these allegations:

Bitfinex and Tether are proud partners of global law enforcement, and routinely and voluntarily assist the United States Department of Justice and other law enforcement organizations across the world in preventing money laundering, terrorism, and other crimes by bad actors.

WSJ also mentioned the recording from a call with former Bitfinex executive Phil Potter posted on Youtube in 2017:

We’ve had banking hiccups in the past. We’ve always been able to route around it or deal with it, open up new accounts or what have you. There’s been lots of sort of cat-and-mouse tricks that everyone in the bitcoin industry has to avail themselves of.