Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao / Photo credit: Coinpedia
US prosecutors suggested a three-year jail term for Binance founder Changpeng Zhao after he pled guilty to money laundering violations in the country, Reuters reported.
The decision exceeds federal guidelines, which typically caps the sentence for such crimes at 18 months.
“Given the magnitude of Zhao’s willful violation of US law and its consequences, an above-guidelines sentence of 36 months is warranted,” US prosecutors said in a Washington court.
The decision was revealed in a court filing about a week before Zhao was to be sentenced, the report noted.
In November 2023, Zhao agreed to step down as CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and agreed to pay a total of US$4.2 billion as a fine to the US Department of Justice for the firm’s violations.
The penalty includes a US$1.8 billion criminal fine and restitution of US$2.5 billion.
Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange that Zhao founded in 2017, was accused of ignoring over 100,000 potentially fraudulent transactions.
Authorities linked these transactions to terrorist outfits like Hamas, al Qaeda, and Isis. They also implicated Binance in facilitating the sale of child exploitation materials.
Zhao remains free in the US thanks to a US$175 million bond as he awaits his sentence on April 30.
Just last month, Zhao launched a new project called Giggle Academy. It offers free courses on math, science, and finance, with an “adaptive individualized curriculum.”
“Building a high-quality and sticky education platform that is entirely free and accessible to all is the most impactful thing I could do for the next chapter of my life,” Zhao wrote on the Giggle Academy website.
See also: US civil suit against Binance.com: What’s the real motivation?
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Jaclyn Tiu
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