Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has been released from custody on a $175 million personal recognizance bond.
Zhao pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in court early Tuesday, after federal officials alleged he directed Binance to allow U.S. customers to use the platform without conducting adequate know-your-customer or anti-money laundering checks. money.
According to a court filing, he is releasing $15 million held in a DWT trust account and agrees to forfeit the funds if he violates the terms of his release. He is also finding two guarantors, who are pledging $250,000 and $100,000 respectively. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 23, 2024 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time.
The terms of Zhao’s release prohibit him from breaking the law, becoming angry with witnesses or victims or taking non-prescribed controlled substances – normal provisions in a bail release.
The order also appears to allow Zhao to leave the United States, saying he has to return 14 days before sentencing.
Zhao resigned from Binance, the exchange he founded in 2017, as part of the company’s settlement with the US Department of Justice on Tuesday. Binance will pay $4.3 billion in fines to various federal agencies and allow multiple monitors to oversee its operations over the next five years. Along with the Department of Justice, Binance settled charges with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, respectively, the watchdog of the money laundering, the sanctions watchdog and the US federal commodities regulator.
“This is one of the largest penalties we have ever obtained from a company sued in a criminal matter,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a press conference Tuesday.
