{"id":25032,"date":"2024-06-01T09:20:06","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T09:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/107422912"},"modified":"2024-06-01T09:20:06","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T09:20:06","slug":"binances-ex-ceo-begins-prison-sentence-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/binances-ex-ceo-begins-prison-sentence-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Binance’s ex-CEO begins prison sentence in California"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/p>\n Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, center, departs federal court in Seattle on April 30, 2024.<\/p>\n Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Binance’s billionaire founder Changpeng Zhao has reported to a low-security federal prison in Lompoc, California. CNBC reached out to Zhao’s defense team at Latham & Watkins to confirm that the former crypto chief is now in custody.<\/p>\n Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison<\/span> in April after pleading guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at his crypto exchange.<\/p>\n The sentence handed down to the former Binance chief was significantly less than the three years that federal prosecutors had been seeking for him<\/span>. The defense had asked for five months of probation. The sentencing guidelines called for a prison term of 12 to 18 months.<\/p>\n “I’m sorry,” Zhao told U.S. District Judge Richard Jones before receiving his sentence, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n “I believe the first step of taking responsibility is to fully recognize the mistakes,” Zhao reportedly said in court. “Here I failed to implement an adequate anti-money laundering program. \u2026 I realize now the seriousness of that mistake.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In November<\/span>, Zhao, commonly known as “CZ,” struck a deal with the U.S. government to resolve a multiyear investigation into Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. As part of the settlement, Zhao stepped down as the company’s CEO.<\/p>\n Though he is no longer running the company, Zhao is widely reported to have an estimated 90% stake in Binance.<\/p>\n The scope of his alleged crimes included willfully failing to implement an effective anti-money laundering program as required by the Bank Secrecy Act, and allowing Binance to process transactions involving proceeds of unlawful activity, including between Americans and individuals in sanctions jurisdictions.<\/p>\n The U.S. ordered Binance to pay $4.3 billion in fines and forfeiture. Zhao agreed to pay a $50 million fine.<\/p>\n FTX’s founder and former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, is also serving time in federal prison in the U.S. Bankman-Fried, who was convicted on all seven criminal counts against him in November, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March<\/span> for the securities fraud conspiracy that doomed his cryptocurrency exchange and a related hedge fund, Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried was also ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture at the sentencing in Manhattan federal court.<\/p>\n Unlike Zhao, Bankman-Fried did not strike a deal with the government. Instead, other members of his C-suite cooperated with prosecutors. Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s former CEO and Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend, was a star witness for the government during his criminal trial.<\/p>\n \u2014 CNBC’s Jim Forkin contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n