US Attorney’s Office has requested three years in prison for Binance founder

The law enforcers explained such a term by the scale of violations and damage

24.04.2024 - 11:15

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3 min

What’s new? The US Attorney’s Office has requested a 36-month prison sentence for Changpeng Zhao, founder of crypto exchange Binance, for violating anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Zhao stepped down as CEO of Binance last November, at which time the exchange admitted to the violations and agreed to pay a $4,32 billion fine. The businessman’s sentencing is expected to be announced on April 30 in Seattle.

Material by Reuters

What else is known? The prosecutor’s office justified its request on the scale of the willful violation of US laws and its consequences. Notably, under federal law, the maximum penalty for Zhao is 18 months in prison.

US authorities allege that Binance failed to report to regulators more than 100 000 suspicious transactions that were linked to terrorist groups including Hamas, al-Qaeda, and ISIS. The platform also transferred criminal proceeds from ransomware as well as the sale of child abuse material.

Zhao, as part of the case, agreed to pay a $50 million fine and step down as head of the exchange he founded in 2017. He was released on $175 million bail but was barred from leaving the country before the verdict was announced because of the risk of absconding.

Zhao also stepped down as chairman of the board of the exchange’s US arm, Binance.US, as part of a settlement with US authorities. Although it is not implicated in the money laundering allegations, Binance.US was banned from operating by regulators in the states of Alaska and Florida following Zhao’s admission.

Richard Teng, who previously ran its Singapore operations, was appointed as the new head of the global exchange.

Canadian investors accused Binance of violating the securities law

They demanded that crypto derivatives transactions be canceled and compensation be paid

Already in the new year, Nigerian authorities accused the exchange of tax evasion and detained two of its top managers who had arrived in the country for talks. One of them, Nadeem Anjarwalla, later fled Nigeria on a fake passport. Anjarwalla was detained in Kenya two days ago and will be extradited to Nigeria with the assistance of Interpol.

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