The prosecution justifies the historic $4.3 billion penalty by asserting that Binance, under the direction of senior executives, willfully violated the law.
Bloomberg News reported that US prosecutors submitted a sentencing memo to a federal magistrate on February 16 requesting his approval of the Binance plea agreement.
Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) entered guilty pleas in November 2023 to allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations.
As part of the plea agreement, Binance is required to make a payment of $4.3 billion, which is among the most substantial criminal penalties in the history of the United States. Five years of monitoring Binance to ensure compliance with regulations is an additional stipulation of the plea agreement.
Prosecutors claimed that the unusual sanction was warranted, considering Binance’s deliberate breach of legislation and susceptibility to the financial system. Prosecutors claim that Binance declined to register as a money service enterprise and neglected to establish measures to prevent money laundering.
The prosecution asserts that as a result of these actions, Binance and its consumers became “vulnerable to those who seek to exploit” the United States financial system.
The Treasury Department’s November press release announcing the plea agreement stated that Binance’s deficiencies enabled terrorist organizations to conduct transactions on the platform. This includes the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
The settlement further asserts that the platform enabled transactions involving hackers, criminals, and websites that specialized in the sale of child sexual abuse materials.
CZ, whose bond is presently $175 million, was supposed to be sentenced to prison for criminal offenses later this month. In recent times, a federal court has rescheduled his sentencing to the latter part of April.
The plea agreement places Zhao’s potential sentence at no more than 18 months, while the maximum sentence is 10 years. In addition, he has consented to a sanction of $50 million.
Also Read: Erik Voorhees suggests Apple use Bitcoin to “earn a billion dollars fast” February 17, 2024
Wallets