Binance founder Changpeng Zhao faces sentencing; US seeks 3
SEATTLE (AP) — Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, faces sentencing Tuesday in a Seattle courtroom, where U.S. prosecutors are asking a judge to give him a three-year prison term for allowing rampant money laundering on the platform.
Zhao pleaded guilty and stepped down as Binance CEO in November as the company agreed to pay $4.3 billion to settle related allegations. U.S. officials said Zhao deliberately looked the other way as illicit actors conducted transactions that supported child sex abuse, the illegal drug trade and terrorism.
“He made a business decision that violating U.S. law was the best way to attract users, build his company, and line his pockets,” the Justice Department wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed last week.
Zhao’s attorneys, insist he should receive no prison term at all, citing his willingness to come from the United Arab Emirates, where he and his family live, to the U.S. to plead guilty, despite the UAE’s lack of an extradition treaty with the U.S. No one has ever been sentenced to prison time for similar violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, they said.
Related articles
Jessica Biel CHOPS her long locks into a bob after book signing in Studio City
Jessica Biel unveiled a dramatic hair transformation - from chest-length locks to a short bob - on S2024-05-21Canada's tourism spending sharply down in 2020
A closed store is seen in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on March 31, 2021. Canada's tourism spendi2024-05-21Fishermen harvest sea cucumbers in NE China
Feng Yan collects sea cucumber in the sea off the Luming Island in Dalian, northeast China's Liaonin2024-05-21Peng Liyuan Meets Brazilian First Lady
Contact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom2024-05-21Children are evacuated from school 'during an exam' after threat made via email
Children have been evacuated from a school with Year 11 students told to leave mid-exam after a thre2024-05-21People visit ancient city of Patara in Turkey
People visit the ancient city of Patara in Antalya, Turkey, on Oct. 25, 2020. Patara was the capital2024-05-21
atest comment