The US government calls for stricter travel restrictions for Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, former CEO of Binance, requesting approval from a federal judge. This request was recorded in a filing on Feb. 23 by the U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The conditions requested specify that Zhao needs to stay within the continental U.S. until his sentencing on April 30. He should also provide a three-day notice for any travels enabling the government to raise potential objections.
Adding to the restrictions, the government has also asked Zhao to surrender his Canadian passport along with all other present and expired travel documents to his lawyers. It is worth noting that Zhao also holds UAE citizenship and had previously sought permission to travel there to visit family. This request was denied by the judge.
Zhao’s legal team has expressed objections to this motion, implying that they might be seeking a workaround for Zhao to leave the country. As a backdrop to this, Zhao had pleaded guilty to a felony charge in November 2023 for not maintaining an effective Anti-Money Laundering protocol at Binance. He has since remained free, backed by a $175 million bond.
As part of a settlement between Binance and US authorities worth $4.3 billion, Zhao stepped down as CEO. On the same date as the filing, Feb. 23, the $1.8 billion fine and $2.5 billion forfeiture were accepted by Judge Richard Jones. Moreover, Binance, Binance.US, and Zhao are currently facing a civil lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The judge made strong remarks about the case during the Feb. 23 hearing, stating, “This really is a case where the ethics of the company were compromised by greed”. Since Zhao’s departure, Richard Teng, former Binance head of regional markets, has taken over the role of CEO.