US government prosecutors are reportedly urging a federal judge to accept crypto exchange Binance’s plea deal.
In November 2023, the top global crypto exchange was hit with a $4.3 billion fine by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle a multi-year investigation.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s controversial chief executive, said he would plead guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws and step down as CEO.
A sentencing memo filed to a federal court in Seattle last week indicates that prosecutors want the case’s judge to accept the plea deal, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Prosecutors argue the penalties are fitting given Binance committed “intentional” misconduct that caused “hundreds of millions of dollars of collateral consequences.”
Zhao’s sentencing hearing was recently postponed until April 30th, according to CNBC.
Last month, a former hostage and several family members of the victims of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel sued the exchange for allegedly providing the terrorist group with a funding mechanism. The lawsuit accuses Binance of processing numerous transactions for Hamas between 2017 and 2023.
Back in June 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Binance and Zhao of selling unregistered securities, misleading investors about its security protocols and diverting customer funds. The SEC also attempted to freeze the assets of the exchange’s American arm, Binance.US.
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