After his guilty plea, his sentencing is scheduled for April 30, 2024. Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the former CEO of Binance, has been ordered by a U.S. court to surrender all his passports to a third party and to inform the authorities of his travel plans. This directive was issued as part of a modification to CZ‘s bond conditions, ensuring that he remains within the U.S. for the duration of his sentencing process, as stated in a recent legal filing.
United States District Judge A. Jones, overseeing Zhao’s case, has also stipulated that Zhao relinquish his Canadian passport to a designated third-party custodian. This custodian is required to accompany Zhao on any travels where identification is necessary. Moreover, the court’s filing explicitly prohibits Zhao from applying for or acquiring a new passport or any form of travel document from any country unless he obtains explicit court approval. The custody of Zhao’s passports, whether current or expired, can only be altered with the consent of either pretrial services or the court itself.
This court order follows Zhao’s November guilty plea to charges related to breaches of the Bank Secrecy Act. Specifically, Zhao admitted to failing to register Binance as a money services business and to establishing an effective anti-money laundering program. His sentencing is scheduled for April 30.
The U.S. government’s request last week propelled the need to modify Zhao’s bond conditions, particularly regarding travel restrictions. While Zhao countered by arguing that his travel had not previously posed any issues, the government retorted by emphasizing that situations that have not been problematic in the past can potentially become problematic in the future.
These developments come in the wake of a significant legal outcome for Binance, where the exchange was ordered to pay $2.7 billion to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), with Zhao himself being fined $150 million. The actions against CZ underscore the U.S. authorities’ stringent approach toward enforcing regulatory compliance within the crypto sector, marking a critical moment for one of the industry’s most influential figures.
