Last year, Binance and its then-CEO, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering and unlicensed money transfers and agreed to pay a $4 billion fine.
Following the settlement, US prosecutors have recommended that the former CEO be sentenced to 36 months in prison, double the maximum recommended sentence by federal sentencing guidelines. They also recommended that he pay a $50 million fine, which was already agreed upon by the prosecution and his legal team.
Zhao’s Attorneys Request Probation
The ex-CEO’s legal team contended that he should not be imprisoned, pointing to the fine he settled and his “exceptional acknowledgment of accountability.”
U.S. prosecutors said, “A custodial sentence of 36 months — twice the high end of the Guidelines range — would reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote respect for the law, afford adequate deterrence, and be sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve the goals of sentencing.”
Zhao’s lawyer’s team also stated, “No defendant in a remotely similar BSA case has ever been sentenced to incarceration.” Instead, the ex-CEO’s attorneys suggested that Zhao be sentenced to probation and confinement at his home in Abu Dhabi.
Moreover, Zhao had previously been imprisoned for 18 months according to the conditions outlined in his plea agreement. However, the DOJ contends that on Tuesday, it released a statement that “the scope and ramifications of Zhao’s misconduct were massive.” Therefore, he suggested that more variance is legal here.
The filing also states, “In part, because Zhao failed to implement an effective AML program at Binance, illicit actors used Binance’s exchange in various ways, including operating mixing services that hid the source and ownership of cryptocurrency; transacting in illicit proceeds from ransomware attacks.”
Furthermore, the DOJ also said that Binance ex-CEO Zhao was already aware that the exchange was making illegal moves and violating the policies. However, he encouraged it. The filling also states that the CEO thought he “would not get caught.”
Bitcoin Performance
$BTC is currently trading at $63,633.45 down by 1.84% in 24-hours. According to @Ali_charts on X, if the $BTC price level breaks below $63K, we could see the price reaching $61k or even $59k.
Final Verdict
CZ’s current legal woes align with a ramping up of compliance measures in the crypto world. Thus far, various legal actions have had a limited impact on the crypto industry. It highlights the difficulty of navigating legal hurdles in the crypto sector due to a lack of defined rules for this novel industry.
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