Binance Founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao Released on $175M Bond, Sentencing Expected in February
The post Binance Founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao Released on $175M Bond, Sentencing Expected in February appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Table of Contents Binance founder CZ will be released from custody after agreeing to pay a $175 million personal recognizance bond. Zhao’s release comes just hours after the shocking revelation that he pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The most significant scandal since Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto empire’s fall is unfolding. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was criminally charged with violating anti-money laundering laws and sanctions. Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has stepped down from his role as CEO after the exchange settled charges with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and agreed to pay a record-breaking fine of $4.3 billion. Unsealed Indictment Details of Binance and CZ’s Alleged Misconduct According to a court filing which was unsealed on Tuesday, Binance allegedly failed to maintain appropriate anti-money laundering measures, operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business and violated sanctions law. The filing reads: “…operated an unlicensed money transmitting business (“MTB”) in violation of U.S. law. Defendant operated as an unlicensed MTB in part to prevent U.S. regulators from behalf of its customers, including U.S. customers, without implementing appropriate “know your customer” (“KYC”) procedures, conducting adequate transaction monitoring, 9 or establishing sufficient controls that would have prevented its U.S. customers from 10 engaging in transactions in violation of U.S. sanctions and to prevent Defendant from 11 processing other transactions involving illicit proceeds. As a result, Defendant willfully caused millions of dollars of cryptocurrency transactions between U.S. persons and persons in jurisdictions that are subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions in violation of IEEPA. Due to its willful failure to implement an effective AML program, Defendant processed transactions by users who operated illicit mixing services and laundered proceeds of dark.net market transactions, hacks, ransomware, and scams. In part because of this scheme, and because Defendant prioritized growth, market share, and profits over compliance…
Filed under: News - @ November 23, 2023 2:20 am