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A federal judge has sentenced Binance founder Changpeng Chao (also known as “CZ”) to four months in prison. reported by new york times. Prosecutors had recommended three years. Mr. Zhao pleaded guilty in November to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to set up an anti-money laundering program.
The Justice Department accused Zhao of allowing criminal activity to flourish on cryptocurrency exchanges. “Binance ignored its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. This deliberate failure allowed money to flow through its platform to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in November. Ta.
The government accused Binance of refusing to comply with U.S. sanctions and failing to report suspicious transactions related to drugs and child sexual abuse materials. Prosecutors said in court that Zhao told Binance employees that “it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission” and boasted that if Binance had followed the law, “it wouldn’t be as big as it is today.” .
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Binance agreed to forfeit $2.5 billion and pay a $1.8 billion fine. Mr. Zhao personally paid $50 million as part of the settlement.
Although the charges are different, Chao’s sentence is significantly shorter than the 25-year sentence that fellow cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman Freed received in March. SBF, as he is known, was found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy for his role in directing the cryptocurrency platform FTX.
Mr. Zhao is essential role The fallout from Bankman Freed and the broader decline of the crypto industry over the past 18 months. The Binance founder tweeted in November 2022 that the company would liquidate its holdings in FTX de facto tokens. He said, “The revelation that has come of late is[sic] Citing “ethical concerns” and “regulatory risks,” these posts devastated not only FTX but the entire crypto world. (It also likely helped attract government attention.) When FTX’s well ran dry due to the platform’s rapid collapse, Mr. Zhao briefly agreed to buy the company, but quickly backed out.
Prosecutors said Zhao’s crimes carried a standard federal sentence of 12 to 18 months in prison, but argued for a three-year sentence, citing the “unprecedented scale” of his crimes. . But Judge Richard A. Jones changed his mind and sentenced him to just one-twelfth of the government’s proposed sentence.
“This was not a mistake. This was not a regulatory misstep,” Justice Department attorney Kevin Mosley reportedly said in court Tuesday. “Breaking U.S. laws was not incidental to his plan to make as much money as possible. Breaking the law was essential to that effort.”