A Seattle federal judge has held the founder of Binance accountable for his part in an elaborate money laundering scheme.
Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to the charges held against him last year by the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Treasury Department.
Zhao, in a move to settle his tab with government lawmakers, agreed to pay a staggering $ 50 m from his funds. Binance, on the other hand, would be hit with a massive settlement charge of nearly $5 billion. This was before Judge Richard Jones laid down a custodian sentence of four months in prison for the Canadian-Chinese.
Binance founder jailed
Many spectators thought that the custodial term would be lengthy given the accusations of the company Zho was keeping. His platform aided the illicit transactions of terrorist cells, such as Hamas, al Qaeda, and ISIS.
His defense team pleaded for Zhao’s cooperation and stated that he should not be given a landmark term behind bars. They wrote, “No defendant in a remotely similar BSA case has ever been sentenced to incarceration. Mr. Zhao should not be the first.”
Many had likened Zhao’s case to that of Sam Bankman-Fried, who we reported on being sentenced to 25 years inside prison for his corrupt crypto trading. Despite the ruling by Judge Jones, albeit shorter than popularly anticipated, Zhao is an incredibly rich individual and the deciding shareholder in Binance.
Government watchdogs were hoping Zhao would be hit with an 18-month custodial sentence at the least and had upped their expectations in documentation, pushing for 36 months behind bars. So this will no doubt be seen as a bloody nose for those in the Justice Department hoping to set an example, alongside a precedent for the crypto trading platform founder’s crimes.
As a result of the court proceedings, Zhao has agreed not to appeal any of his charges for 18 months.
Image: Ideogram.
