Binance has admitted that it allows transactions with Hamas and other terrorist groups on its service.
Binance Holdings Ltd. and its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws. Binance will now pay $4.3 billion in one of the largest corporate settlements in US history, and Zhao will pay a $50 million fine in an agreement that requires him to step down as CEO. This was reported by Bloomberg news agency.
Zhao, whose net worth is estimated at $23 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, is stepping down as CEO of Binance and cannot participate in the management of the company for three years – he will be replaced by Richard Teng.
Zhao pleaded guilty on Tuesday, November 21, to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in federal court in Seattle. The settlement, involving the Justice Department, the Treasury Department and the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, ends a year-long investigation into the exchange’s activities.
Binance has admitted that it allows transactions with Hamas and other terrorist groups on the platform. The service is accused of three counts, including anti-money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transfer business and violating US sanctions. Zhao himself faces up to 10 years in prison, but is likely to be sentenced to 18 months under a plea deal.
“Binance became the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in part because of its crimes—and is now paying one of the largest corporate fines in US history,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
As we wrote earlier, lawyers in the United States were fined for using fake information provided by the ChatGPT neural network in a case.
Source: korrespondent
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