A federal judge has made the decision that the former CEO of Binance, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, is at risk of flight and therefore must remain in the United States until his sentencing in February. The judge concluded that if Mr. Zhao were allowed to return to his home in the United Arab Emirates, he could present significant flight risk.
The ruling was handed down on December 7th by Richard Jones, a district court Judge in Seattle. Mr. Zhao, standing accused of money laundering, had previously pled guilty on November 21st. It was agreed that he would not appeal any potential sentence up to 18 months of imprisonment.
In explaining his decision, Jones indicated that Mr. Zhao’s substantial international wealth and property, coupled with his lack of ties to the United States, made his return to the US an uncertain proposition should he decide to leave the country. He further added that Mr. Zhao’s family and status in the UAE add to the likelihood of him trying to flee.
The judge granted the government’s motion to retain Zhao within the United States during the period between his plea and sentencing. The decision comes after the judge accepted Zhao’s guilty plea on December 6th but did not act on the motion to prevent him from returning to Dubai, where he currently lives.
At present, Zhao is on a $175 million bond, with assets described by Judge Jones to be largely beyond the reach of the government. The judge also outlined the conditions of the bond, which permit Zhao to travel within the US and for his family to visit him, calling these conditions “hardly burdensome” to his freedom.
It’s noteworthy that in November, both Zhao and Binance reached a settlement with US regulators, admitting to running an unregistered money-transmitting business and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, amounting to approximately $4.3 billion. As a part of this settlement, Zhao also stepped down as CEO.