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U.S. prosecutors claim to have gathered enough evidence that crypto exchange Binance engaged in money laundering, but others disagreed.
According to Reuters news agency, U.S. Justice Department prosecutors are divided over charging cryptocurrency exchange Binance with money laundering.
This is part of an investigation into Binance that began in 2018, focusing on compliance with anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations under U.S. law. Binance’s alleged crimes include failure to obtain a money transfer license, conspiracy to launder money, and violation of sanctions for crimes.
— db (@tier10k) December 12, 2022
Some prosecutors believe there is enough evidence to charge Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and its senior managers, but others say more time should be needed to assess the situation. Therefore, the investigation has not yet reached a final verdict.
The source said the investigation is involving multiple prosecutors from multiple U.S. Department of Justice functions, including the Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Division (MLARS), the Western District of Washington District Attorney’s Office and the National Cryptocurrency Task Force.
The article states that the U.S. Treasury Department still has the discretion to issue indictments against Binance, negotiate mediation or dismiss the case without further action.
Reuters further revealed that Binance’s lawyers have been meeting with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve the situation, with one of the arguments being that charging Binance could deal another blow to the crypto market, which has been in decline for a year. The two sides mentioned the possibility of Binance accepting fines for mediation.
Reuters also confirmed that Binance has in recent years hired many former officials who used to work for US financial authorities, setting up legal departments to deal with the investigation.
In response to the latest criticism, Binance accused Reuters of distorting the facts about its legal department, but did not comment on the U.S. Justice Department investigation. A Binance spokesperson said only that it was “not aware of the internal workings of the U.S. Department of Justice.”
Reuters has it wrong again.
Now they’re attacking our incredible law enforcement team. A team that we’re incredibly proud of – they’ve made crypto more secure for all of us. Here’s the full statement we sent the reporter and a blog about our remarkable law enforcement team. — Binance (@binance) December 12, 2022
In 2022, Reuters news agency also carried out many independent investigations into Binance, claiming that the exchange has a weak anti-money laundering mechanism, helped launder a large amount of dirty money up to $ 2.35 billion and disclosed information to Russian authorities.
Binance has repeatedly denied and made statements refuting the above information.
