A federal judge decided Thursday night that Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) could not leave the country before his sentencing.Zhao is expected to appear in court in February 2024. Last month, Zhao entered a guilty plea to one count of breaking the Bank Secrecy Act.After putting some money in escrow and having guarantors put up about $5 million in assets as collateral, he was freed on a $175 million personal recognizance bond.Zhao was first granted a bond that allowed him to return to the United Arab Emirates, where he, his partner, and his children reside. However, the prosecution contended that Zhao posed a flight risk and shouldn’t be allowed to leave the country.
The Department of Justice was supported by District Judge Richard Jones of the Western District of Washington.
“The defendant has articulated justifications that in most cases would cause the government’s motion to be denied,” the judge wrote. “However, a critical feature of the government’s motion is the extent of the defendant’s enormous wealth and absence of an extradition treaty with the UAE. In addition, the defendant’s family resides in the UAE and there is no indication he has any other ties to the United States. While the defendant has indicated he will be asking for a lesser sentence, the government has indicated it may be asking for as much as 18 months of incarceration. Consequently, the defendant is not facing an insignificant sentence.”
The judge, who earlier this week accepted Zhao’s guilty plea, stated that Zhao could serve as little as 10 months but as much as 18 months.
Following Binance’s admission of guilt to breaking anti-money laundering and money transmitter regulations, Zhao resigned from the company last month.As part of its own plea agreement, Binance committed to pay a $4.3 billion punishment.