The United States Attorney’s Office has petitioned a federal judge to endorse additional travel constraints for former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
In a filing dated Feb. 23 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman urged Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida to ratify a motion outlining the terms for CZ to remain at liberty on bail.
Prosecutors requested that Zhao confine his travels to within the contiguous U.S. until his sentencing hearing on April 30 and furnish three days’ notice for any excursions to enable the government to lodge objections.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also sought CZ’s surrender of his Canadian passport and “all other current and expired passports and travel documents” to his legal representatives.
Zhao, who also holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates, had sought permission to journey there to visit relatives prior to his sentencing — a plea the judge dismissed.
As per the filing, “Zhao’s counsel object to this motion as written,” indicating that his legal team may persist in seeking a means for the former Binance CEO to depart the country.
In November 2023, CZ pleaded guilty to one felony count for failure to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance.
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Since the indictment, he has remained at liberty on a $175 million bond.
Zhao resigned as Binance CEO as part of a $4.3 billion settlement between the crypto exchange and U.S. authorities.
On Feb. 23, Judge Richard Jones approved the $1.8 billion fine and forfeiture of $2.5 billion.
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.
“This truly is a case where the ethics of the company were compromised by greed,” remarked Judge Jones during the Feb. 23 hearing.
Following CZ’s departure, Richard Teng, former Binance head of regional markets, assumed the role of CEO.
In a December 2023 interview with Cointelegraph, Teng portrayed the exchange as “completely different” compared to its operations six years prior.
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