On April 30, 2024, an American court issued a verdict in the case of the former CEO of the Binance exchange, Changpeng Zhao (CZ). He was sentenced to 4 months in prison. Incrypted writes about this.
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Details
During the meeting, the prosecutor's office insisted on a prison sentence for CZ, explaining that the probationary period would allegedly encourage others to break the law.
Zhao's lawyers noted his cooperation with the investigation and the US authorities during consideration. In particular, the fact that CZ voluntarily came to the United States during the consideration of his case. The defense also pointed out that Zhao is not yet involved in the management of Binance.
In addition, CZ's lawyers noted that they had not previously applied prison sentences in similar situations, pointing to the case of the BitMEX exchange and its co-founder Arthur Geis. Then American authorities brought charges against the exchange and Gase. The latter admitted his guilt, left the company, paid a fine of $10 million and received two years probation.
Read: What will happen to Binance after an agreement with the US authorities: analysts made forecasts
Zhao himself stated in court that he failed to establish proper KYC/AML procedures at Binance, but tried to correct this, and also encouraged the exchange to cooperate with the US government.
The judge took into account the fact that CZ “has taken significant steps to cooperate with law enforcement.” However, he indicated that Zhao was the CEO of Binance and was responsible for decision making.
Recall
CZ left his post as CEO of Binance in the fall of 2023. He pleaded guilty to facilitating money laundering and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Shortly after the trial was completed, Zhao was released on bail of $175 million.
The verdict in his case was expected to be rendered at the end of February 2024, but the trial was postponed. In December 2023, the court issued a ban on CZ traveling outside the country.
Later it became known that the date of announcement of the verdict was postponed to April 30, 2024. Before the trial, the judge received 161 letters from friends and loved ones of CZ, in which he was described as a good person. Zhao also publicly apologized.
