Binance's Changpeng Zhao pleads guilty, steps down to settle US illicit finance probe
livemint.comBinance chief Changpeng Zhao stepped down and pleaded guilty to breaking US anti-money laundering laws as part of a $4.3 billion settlement resolving a years-long probe into the world's largest crypto exchange, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The deal, which will see Zhao personally pay $50 million, was described by prosecutors as one of the largest corporate penalties in U.S. history. It is another blow to the crypto industry that has been beset by investigations and comes on the heels of the recent fraud conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
But several legal experts said it was a good outcome for Zhao, leaving his vast wealth intact and allowing him to retain his stake in Binance, the exchange he founded in 2017.
Also Read: Binance lays off over 1,000 employees, including 36 in India- Report
Binance broke U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions with organizations the US described as terrorist groups including Hamas, al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, authorities said.
The exchange also never reported transactions with websites devoted to selling child sexual abuse materials and was one of the largest recipients of ransomware proceeds, they said.
“Binance made it easy for criminals to move their stolen funds and illicit proceeds on its exchanges," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Tuesday. “Binance also did more than just fail to comply with federal law. It pretended to comply."
Some of the charges, which are both criminal and civil, relate to practices that Reuters reported first in a series of articles in 2022.
Also Read: One year after FTX imploded, here’s how crypto is changing
The Justice Department, which
Read more on livemint.com
