Key Points
- Binance’s founder, Changpeng Zhao, awaits his sentence today.
- The sentence could potentially impose a three-year prison time for CZ, exceeding federal guidelines.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s founder, awaits his sentence today, April 30. The sentence could potentially impose a three-year prison time for CZ which would exceed federal guidelines.
CZ’s guilty plea from last November regarding the violation of anti-money laundering regulations set by the US DOJ is weighing heavily in the decision about his sentencing.
Prosecutors are proposing a stricter punishment due to CZ’s dismissing stance towards compliance. Considering his estimated personal wealth of $43 billion, he could become the richest person ever to enter the US federal lockup if he is convicted, as Bloomberg notes.
Zhao pleaded guilty and stepped down as the CEO of Binance back in November as the firm agreed to pay $4.3 billion in order to settle related allegations.
CZ’s defense pushed back
His attorneys insist that he should not receive jail time at all while citing his willingness to come from the UAE to the US to plead guilty despite the UAE’s lack of an extradition treaty with the US.
They also said that no one has ever been sentenced to prison time following similar violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
CZ’s defense has been pushing back, stating in a new filing that he was never “explicitly informed” of specific transactions on Binance that were suspicious and allegedly related to criminal funds.
Zhao said recently, when he entered his guilty plea to one court, that he wants to take responsibility and close that chapter in his life.
He made it very clear that he wanted to come back. Otherwise, he would not have been there that day.
Binance reportedly allowed more than 1.5 million crypto trades that totaled about $900 million that violated US sanctions.
Zhao reached a plea deal and agreed to a personal fine of $50 million.
Regarding the suspicious trading activities, CZ’s defense explained recently that although Probation referenced a conversation in which Binance’s chief compliance officer warned CZ that there were users from sanctioned countries on the exchange, the reality is that Binance, as a non-US company, was not prohibited from having users from US-sanctioned countries on the platform.
Recently, CZ had to give up voting control in the Dubai local entity, so that Binance could receive a full crypto license there.
