The United States Attorney’s Office has made a request to a federal judge for additional travel restrictions to be imposed on former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
In a filing on February 23rd, U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman asked Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida to approve a motion that would specify the conditions under which CZ could remain free on bail. The prosecutors asked that Zhao be required to stay within the continental U.S. until his sentencing hearing on April 30th, and that he provide three days’ notice for any travel plans to allow the government to object.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also requested that CZ surrender his Canadian passport, as well as any other current or expired passports and travel documents, to his legal team. It is worth noting that Zhao also holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates, where he had previously requested to travel in order to visit family before his sentencing. However, this motion was denied by the judge.
According to the filing, CZ’s legal team has expressed their objection to this motion as it is currently written, indicating that they may continue to explore options for the former Binance CEO to leave the country.
In November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to one felony count for failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance. Since then, he has been released on a $175 million bond.
In related news, Zhao stepped down as CEO of Binance as part of a $4.3 billion deal between the crypto exchange and U.S. authorities. On February 23rd, Judge Richard Jones accepted the $1.8 billion fine and the forfeiture of $2.5 billion. However, CZ, Binance, and Binance.US still face a civil case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a lawsuit in June 2023.
During the February 23rd hearing, Judge Jones remarked, “This really is a case where the ethics of the company were compromised by greed.”
Following CZ’s departure, Richard Teng, the former head of regional markets at Binance, took over as CEO. In a December 2023 interview with Cointelegraph, Teng described the exchange as “totally different” compared to its business operations six years ago.
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