Didn't know this happened until today. They sent him to jail too but only for four months.
Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty and stepped down as CEO of the crypto trading company last year
www.theguardian.com
Binance founder sentenced to four months for money laundering
Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty and stepped down as CEO of the crypto trading company last year
Nick Robins-Early
Tue 30 Apr 2024 20.20 BSTFirst published on Tue 30 Apr 2024 20.05 BST
Changpeng Zhao, the former head of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading company, was sentenced to four months in jail on Tuesday in a Seattle courtroom. Zhao pleaded guilty late last year to money-laundering violations and stepped down as CEO of Binance. The company itself was
fined $4.3bn. Zhao was fined $50m last year.
Judge Richard Jones told Zhao that there were a number of mitigating factors in his sentencing, including that he had cooperated with law enforcement. Jones also cited numerous letters the court had received that testified to Zhao’s character, and stated that he did not believe Zhao was likely to reoffend.
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The Department of Justice sought a 36-month sentence for Zhao in
a filing last week, arguing that he “violated US law on an unprecedented scale” and that his “sentence should reflect the gravity of his crimes”. Zhao’s defense lawyers argued that he should receive only probation.
“Mr Zhao deeply regrets his offense, and he has shown exceptional acceptance of responsibility and remediation,” Zhao’s lawyers
said in their filing before the sentencing.
Zhao, who goes by CZ, has for years been one of the biggest names in cryptocurrency. He amassed billions of dollars as head of Binance, founding the exchange in 2017 and growing it into a dominant industry player as crypto investments surged. Zhao’s downfall coincided with a broader legal scrutiny of the crypto industry, including his fellow billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried being
sentenced to 25 years in prison this year for financial fraud.
The justice department’s case against Zhao revolved around his failure to comply with US anti-money-laundering laws and to file proper reports with government agencies such as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. In practice, prosecutors say that led to
Binance becoming a hub for illicit financial transactions that included extremist groups, criminals and people trafficking child sexual abuse materials.
Binance failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions to law enforcement,
prosecutors alleged, including those involving US-designated terror groups such as al-Qaida, Islamic State and Hamas.
“From the very beginning, Zhao and other Binance executives had engaged in a deliberate and calculated effort to profit from the US market without implementing the controls that are required by US law,” the attorney general,
Merrick Garland, said after Zhao pleaded guilty.
During the sentencing hearing, the probation department recommended that Zhao receive five months in prison. They emphasized trying to find a balance between a deterrent and something that would not be unusually harsh. Zhao’s lawyers argued that the government seeking three years in prison
was out of step with similar cases where defendants received no jail time.
Zhao issued a short statement during the hearing, telling the judge that he wanted to focus his efforts on an online education platform and that he had reflected on his actions.
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