The United States Attorney’s Office has made a request to a federal judge to impose additional travel restrictions on former Binance CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. In a filing on February 23, U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman asked Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida to approve a motion that outlines the conditions for CZ to remain free on bail. Prosecutors have requested that Zhao stay within the continental U.S. until his sentencing hearing on April 30 and provide three days’ notice for any travel plans to allow the government to raise objections.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has also asked CZ to surrender his Canadian passport, as well as any other current and expired passports and travel documents, to his legal team. It is worth noting that Zhao also holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates, but his request to travel there to visit family ahead of his sentencing has been denied by the judge.
According to the filing, CZ’s legal team has expressed objections to the motion as it is currently written, indicating that they may continue to explore options for the former Binance CEO to leave the country. In November 2023, Zhao pleaded guilty to one felony count for the failure to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance. Since then, he has been out on bail, secured by a $175 million bond.
In related news, Zhao stepped down as Binance CEO as part of a $4.3 billion agreement between the crypto exchange and U.S. authorities. On February 23, Judge Richard Jones approved a $1.8 billion fine and the forfeiture of $2.5 billion. However, CZ, Binance, and Binance.US are still facing a civil case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a lawsuit in June 2023.
During the February 23 hearing, Judge Jones remarked, “This really is a case where the ethics of the company were compromised by greed.” Following Zhao’s departure, Richard Teng, the former head of regional markets at Binance, assumed the role of CEO. In a December 2023 interview with Cointelegraph, Teng described the exchange as “totally different” compared to its operations six years ago.
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