The US Department of Justice asked the court to classify the sensitive circumstances of the case of Binance and Changpeng Zhao
The US Department of Justice has requested a court order restricting the disclosure of confidential information about the proceedings between the US authorities and the ex-head of the world's largest crypto exchange Binance.
The Ministry of Justice has filed a request with the Court of the Western District of Seattle, Washington. The Agency claims that the materials submitted to the court include confidential witness interviews, financial reports and internal business documents of third parties. Only defense lawyers and the defendant himself will be able to access sensitive information.
If the court grants the request, the identities of several witnesses will be hidden. Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and his lawyers did not object to such a protective order.
Zhao faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly violating anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Thanks to the deal with justice, the term can be radically shortened: even 18 months in prison were mentioned among sources close to the case. In any case, the founder of Binance will not be able to return to his family in the UAE until the sentencing, which is scheduled for April 30. Zhao was released on bail of $175 million, but is restricted in movement by the territory of the United States.
At the end of November, Changpeng Zhao left the post of CEO of Binance and now Richard Teng holds this position. Zhao agreed to pay a fine of $50 million, and the Binance exchange had to agree to pay $4.3 billion to the US treasury.
