Former Binance CEO Tries To Leave US Before Verdict

Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, (photo: x @cz_binance)

JAKARTA - Lawyers for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao are urging a US judge to reject the Justice Department's request to ban him from returning to his home in the United Arab Emirates until he is sentenced for violating anti-money laundering requirements.

Zhao's lawyers in a filing on Thursday November 23 asked US District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle not to change the bail conditions set by a Supreme Court judge on Tuesday November 21 that would allow him to leave the US while awaiting sentencing.

Zhao, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and Canada, stepped down as CEO of Binance on Tuesday after pleading guilty to causing the global crypto exchange to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

US authorities said that Binance violated US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions with organizations the US describes as terrorist groups, including Hamas, al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

As part of the deal, the company agreed to pay more than $4.3 billion. Zhao agreed to pay a $150 million fine to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and prosecutors in a filing on Wednesday, November 22, said he faced up to 18 months in prison.

The Justice Department asked Jones on Monday to overturn US Supreme Court Justice Brian Tsuchida's decision to allow Zhao to return to the UAE before his Feb. 23 sentencing after he agreed to release him on $175 million bail.

The government said it may not be able to guarantee Zhao's return if he chooses not to return to the US for sentencing, given there is no extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates and Zhao is a multi-billionaire with significant assets.

However, Zhao's lawyers argued that the former CEO had demonstrated that he was not a flight risk by agreeing to a "substantial" bail package and voluntarily coming to the US to take responsibility for his actions.

Allowing Zhao to return to the UAE would allow him to care for his partner and three children and prepare them for his sentencing, according to the defense.

The Justice Department responded in a statement Friday that its decision at Tuesday's hearing to recommend that Zhao remain free before sentencing was "exceptional" and only because it believed the flight risk he posed could be "managed" by limiting his travel.