The court in Seattle has moved the sentencing date for Changpeng Zhao, the creator and ex-CEO of Binance, to April 30. Initially, his sentencing was scheduled for February 23. Zhao is facing charges related to money laundering.
Zhao admitted to breaking the Bank Secrecy Act and stepped down from his position at Binance in November after U.S. officials concluded a lengthy investigation. His guilty plea was part of a more significant deal where Binance agreed to pay the U.S. government $4.3 billion. Zhao also agreed to pay a personal fine of $50 million.
Zhao is out on bail in the U.S. after posting a $175 million bond. Last December, the U.S. Federal Court decided he couldn’t travel abroad, especially to Dubai, because he was concerned he might not return.
Under federal rules, Zhao could be sentenced to as much as 18 months in prison. However, U.S. prosecutors have suggested that he could receive up to a 10-year sentence.
Prosecutors mentioned in a November document, “The top-end of the Guidelines range could reach up to 18 months, and the United States can ask for any sentence up to the ten-year maximum allowed by law.”
