(New York) The agreement announced at the end of November between Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the world, and its general director Changpeng Zhao with the American authorities was validated Friday by a federal judge, according to court documents consulted by the ‘AFP.
Federal Judge Richard Jones decided, during a hearing Friday in a court in Seattle, Washington state (northwest), to sentence Changpeng Zhao (CZ) to three years of probation.
The Justice Department announced on November 22 that CZ had agreed to plead guilty to violating US anti-money laundering laws, and that his sentence would be handed down at a later date. He faced several years in prison.
This agreement also provided for him to resign.
Binance had also pleaded guilty to violations of US law and agreed to pay fines of $3.4 billion and $968 million to two agencies reporting to the US Treasury, the Finance Ministry said at the time.
Judge Jones on Friday validated the payment of a total of more than $4.31 billion.
This represents “the highest financial sanction ever imposed on a (money services company) in the history of the Department” of Justice, according to a court document from the American authorities dating from February, emphasizing the “seriousness” of the recognized facts. .
In addition, the platform was taken to court in 2023 by the two main American financial market regulatory agencies, the SEC and the CFTC.
The latter criticizes Binance in particular for not having taken sufficient measures to prevent money laundering. Customers could in fact access the platform without their identity having been previously verified.
In France, Binance has been targeted since February 2022 by an investigation by the Paris prosecutor’s office for having solicited clients without authorization and having failed to fulfill its obligations to control its clients’ funds.