No. They claim the money was seized from a "partner" (Crypto Capital) by various governments (~$400 million to Poland, etc), and they are trying to get it back.

And why wasn't that disclosed to customers prior to today?

That is between them and their "customers", I guess.

Bitfinex has been shady for a long time and tether from its beginning. So, good luck to them. But that is nothing new.