Home » US business news » Binance Founder Faces Three Years In Jail For Money Laundering
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Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, will be sentenced on Tuesday after admitting money laundering charges.
The Guardian reports U.S. prosecutors are recommending a three-year prison term.
The 47-year-old resigned as CEO of Binance in November after pleading guilty.
His sentencing follows the conviction of another high-profile cryptocurrency leader, Sam Bankman-Fried of the now-defunct FTX exchange.
Bankman-Fried was jailed for 25 years for fraud and money laundering earlier this month.
He recently appealed the sentence.
Prosecutors are pushing for a 36-month sentence for Zhao, double the maximum 18 months suggested by federal guidelines.
They likened Binance's operations under his leadership to the "wild west".
They highlighted the company's failure to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions.
Some of the transactions even involved terror groups like al-Qaida, Isis and Hamas.
The prosecution said: "The willful violation of U.S. law by Zhao was not merely an oversight but a deliberate business strategy to attract users and profit at the expense of compliance."
Following the charges, Zhao stepped down.
Binance admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, agreeing to a $4.3 billion penalty, with Zhao personally fined $50 million.
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Despite these penalties, Zhao's net worth remains at $41.6 billion.
This makes Zhao the 29th richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index.
Zhao has been free on a $175 million bond since his guilty plea.
He has expressed remorse in a letter to the judge, acknowledging his mistakes in not prioritizing compliance measures at Binance.
He also committed to dedicating significant future efforts to support youth initiatives globally.
His lawyers have requested a lenient sentence citing Zhao’s acceptance of responsibility, the significant financial penalties already paid, and the absence of imprisonment in similar cases.
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