The United States Attorney’s Office has made a request to a federal judge to impose additional travel restrictions on former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
In a filing on February 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman asked Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida to approve a motion that outlines the conditions for CZ to remain out on bail. The prosecutors requested that Zhao remain within the continental U.S. until his sentencing hearing on April 30 and provide a three-day notice for any travel plans, allowing the government to raise objections.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also asked for CZ to surrender his Canadian passport, as well as any other current and expired passports and travel documents, to his legal team. Zhao also holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates and had requested to travel there to visit his family before his sentencing. However, the judge denied this request.
According to the filing, “Zhao’s counsel object to this motion as written,” indicating that his legal team may continue to pursue a way for him to leave the country. In November 2023, CZ pleaded guilty to one felony count for failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance. Since then, he has remained free on a $175 million bond.
Zhao stepped down as Binance CEO as part of a $4.3 billion agreement between the cryptocurrency exchange and U.S. authorities. On February 23, 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 23 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 operations six years ago.
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