Key Insights
- Sentencing date for Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s founder, postponed by a Seattle court to April 30th on money laundering charges.
- Zhao faces up to 18 months in jail under guidelines, but prosecutors could technically seek maximum 10 years after his guilty plea.
- He remains free on $175 million bail but was denied request to visit Dubai amid flight risk worries ahead of sentencing.
NEW YORK (MarketsXplora) – A federal judge has delayed the sentencing of Changpeng Zhao, founder of crypto exchange Binance, until April 30 on charges of violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws, a court filing showed on Monday.
Zhao’s sentencing was previously scheduled for Feb. 23 but has been pushed back due to scheduling issues, according to the filing in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.
The Chinese-Canadian entrepreneur pleaded guilty in November to a bank secrecy violation as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities investigating his exchange for enabling illegal money flows.
Related! Ex-Binance Boss Zhao Gets 4-Month Prison Term in Money Laundering Case
Zhao also agreed to a $50 million personal fine as well as a travel ban confining him to the United States until sentencing after the government objected to his plans to visit Dubai, citing flight risk.
He currently remains free on a $175 million bail bond. But Zhao still faces up to 18 months in prison under federal guidelines for the offence of conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act.
Prosecutors have said they could technically seek the maximum sentence of 10 years however based on the guilty plea and fines agreed to already.
Binance reached the deferred prosecution deal with the Justice Department and Treasury to resolve a probe into a system that enabled the trading platform to grow rapidly into the world’s biggest crypto exchange.