Lawyers for former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao are urging a US judge to reject the Justice Department’s request to bar him from returning to his home within the United Arab Emirates until he’s sentenced for violating anti-money laundering requirements.
Zhao’s lawyers in a Thursday filing asked US District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle to not reverse bail conditions set by a magistrate judge on Tuesday that might allow him to depart the US while awaiting sentencing.
Zhao, a citizen of the UAE and Canada, stepped down as CEO of Binance on Tuesday after pleading guilty to willfully causing the worldwide cryptocurrency exchange to fail to keep up an efficient anti-money laundering program.
US authorities said Binance broke US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and did not report greater than 100,000 suspicious transactions with organizations the US described as terrorist groups including Hamas, al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The corporate as a part of a plea deal agreed to pay greater than $4.3 billion.
Zhao has agreed to pay a $150 million penalty to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and prosecutors in a Wednesday filing said he faces as much as 18 months in prison.
The Justice Department has asked Jones by Monday to reverse a call by US Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida to permit Zhao to return home to the UAE ahead of his Feb. 23 sentencing after he agreed to release him a $175 million bail bond.
The federal government said it could be unable to secure his return if he chooses not to return back to the US for sentencing, provided that it has no extradition treaty with the UAE and Zhao is a multi-billionaire with significant assets.
But Zhao’s lawyers argued that the previous CEO had demonstrated he was not a flight risk by agreeing to a “substantial” bail package and by voluntarily coming to the US to just accept responsibility for his actions.
Allowing Zhao to return to the UAE would allow him to maintain his partner and three children and prepare them for his sentencing, defense lawyers argued.
The Justice Department didn’t reply to a request for comment on Friday.
