CZ attempted to hand over his complete Binance stake in January in order to depart the United States

Despite presenting his multibillion-dollar investment as security, Changpeng Zhao’s desire to go to the UAE was denied, according to newly disclosed court records.

Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s former CEO, attempted to pledge his vast holdings on the cryptocurrency exchange. A recently disclosed court petition states that the individual must provide US citizenship as collateral in order to temporarily return to the UAE.

The attorneys for Zhao revealed in a secret letter to Judge Richard Jones dated December 22 that Zhao had proposed to give up his ownership stake in Binance.US, which had a value of $4.5 billion in a fundraising round that took place two years ago, in a court document that came out on January 24.

Federal prosecutors did not approve of Zhao’s request to spend up to four weeks in the UAE in early January visiting a loved one who was in the hospital after surgery, as stated in the letter.

According to court documents, Judge Richard Jones refused the motion at a closed-door hearing on December 29.

On November 21, Zhao entered a guilty plea to money laundering. He is now free in the US on $175 million in bail. His maximum term is 18 months, and he has decided not to appeal a sentence of that duration.

The identity of the patient undergoing surgery, the nature of the procedure, and other personally identifiable information are among the portions of the newly revealed letter that remain censored.

According to Jones, Zhao’s “enormous wealth and property abroad” made him “likely to flee if he returns to the UAE,” which is why he was initially barred from returning to the UAE as a condition of his bail.

Until his sentencing on February 23, he ordered the ex-CEO of Binance to remain in the US. Zhao’s whereabouts within the nation are a mystery, and he has been noticeably quiet on X since his previous post on December 6, 2023.

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