Ex-Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — who called SBF a ‘liar’ — faces 3 years for money laundering
NY Post
Former crypto kingpin Changpeng Zhao may soon share a cell with FTX fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried — and if the feds get their way it will be for three years.
US prosecutors recommended an above-guidance, 36-month sentence for the disgraced Binance chief after the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges pleaded guilty to money laundering charges.
Prosecutors asked for the longer penalty in a sentencing memo filed with the court for the western district of Washington late Tuesday to “reflect the gravity of his crimes,” CNBC reported.
Zhao — who had called Bankman-Fried a “liar” and said he had knowingly misappropriated customers’ money — would still serve far less time than the 25 years handed to his rival for the FTX fraud.
US authorities have said Binance and Zhao — who is also a citizen of Canada — failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions with designated terrorist groups including Hamas, al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
They called the company’s operations the “Wild West” under Zhao’s rule, adding that Binance violated US laws on an “unprecedented scale” and with a “deliberate disregard” for the company’s legal responsibilities, CNBC reported.
