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.
Scheana Shay rubs Lala Kent's swimsuit
2024 Pudong Festival of Culture & Art opens next week
Britain's new bonkers EV: Callum Skye is an £80k electric buggy built in Warwickshire
Australian PM demands accountability for citizen's death in Gaza
Connor McDavid becomes 4th in NHL history with 100 assists as the Oilers rout the Sharks 9
Chinese courts highlight child protection during divorce trials
Red Lobster seeks bankruptcy protection after closing some restaurants
Chinese railways gear up for travel rush during Qingming festival
Student fatally shot, suspect detained at Georgia's Kennesaw State University
Russia says int'l cooperation necessary in fighting terrorism