US prosecutors seize Capstone bank accounts tied to Tether and Bitfinex

Federal prosecutors froze about $84 million in Capstone accounts at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase. The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint in California in July. The complaint accuses Capstone of making hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal transfers. Prosecutors allege that Capstone was an unlicensed payments business that misrepresented itself as an IT services company to open bank accounts. People familiar with the situation identified the two firms served by Capstone as Tether and its affiliated exchange Bitfinex. Prosecutors allege that almost two-thirds of $337 million paid from a Wells Fargo account went to hundreds of individuals and entities on behalf of Tether and Bitfinex. More than $700 million passed through that account between March and December 2025. Capstone moved $65 million to Wells Fargo after Citi moved to close its account in May 2025 over anti-money laundering concerns. Capstone agreed to work for EQIBank in August 2024, according to the civil claim. Three weeks later, Capstone was incorporated in Montana and registered with FinCEN as a money services business. Prosecutors allege that Capstone was run by Kotaro Shimogori and Mary Jeanne Thompson. The FBI searched their Sacramento home under a warrant. The complaint also accuses Capstone of helping fraudsters convert stolen money into USDT in an impersonation fraud targeting elderly victims. Prosecutors allege that the transfers operated as unlicensed money transmission in at least six states where the activity is a felony. Tether and Bitfinex said they were EQIBank customers. They said they had no knowledge of the alleged fraudulent conduct and that their assets held at EQIBank were limited. No suggestion was made that Tether, Bitfinex, or EQIBank knew about or facilitated the alleged impersonation fraud. Capstone's lawyer said the company denies wrongdoing and plans to challenge the government's complaint. EQIBank filed a motion in June seeking the seized funds. EQIBank said the funds largely belonged to its customers and that the seizures caused a material liquidity crisis. EQIBank said Capstone had misled it about its registration status. Marlin Capital bought $10 million of EQIBank convertible instruments in 2024. Tether holds more than $140 billion of US government debt. DBS said it does not comment on specific names. People familiar with the situation said DBS had not offered Tether a bank account. EQIBank, Shimogori, and Thompson did not respond to requests for comment. The Department of Justice, Citi, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase declined to comment.