Changpeng Zhao will be imprisoned for 4 months

Yesterday, April 30, a US court delivered a verdict in the case of former Binance CEO Чанпен Чжао" href="https://noworries.news/biography/chanpen-chzhao/" data-bio-id="3681">Changpeng Zhao. He was Binance-prigovorili-k-4-mesyacam-tyurmy/">sentenced to 4 months in prison.

During the hearing, prosecutors insisted on a prison sentence for CZ, explaining that a probationary period would allegedly encourage others to break the law.

Zhao’s lawyers emphasized his cooperation with the investigation and the US authorities during the proceedings. In particular, the fact that he had voluntarily come to the United States during the trial. The defense also pointed out that Zhao is not currently involved in the management of Binance.

In addition, CZ’s lawyers noted that prison sentences have not been imposed in similar situations before, recalling the case of BitMEX and its co-founder Arthur Hayes. Back then, the U.S. authorities brought charges against the exchange and Hayes. He pleaded guilty, left the company, paid a $ 10 million fine, and received a two-year suspended sentence.

Zhao himself said in court that he failed to implement proper KYC/AML procedures at Binance, but he tried to fix it and also encouraged the exchange to cooperate with the US government.

The judge took into account the fact that CZ «has taken significant steps to cooperate with law enforcement». However, he pointed out that Zhao was the CEO of Binance and was responsible for decision-making.

Earlier, Zhao pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws. He resigned from his position as Binance CEO in November last year, when he and the exchange admitted their illegal activities and agreed to pay a fine of $ 4.32 billion.