Breaking: Binance Now At Higher Risk Of Facing Sanctions Charges In US Probe

Binance Money Laundering Probe Sanctions News: While the crypto market continues to struggle after the FTX related contagion effect, top exchange Binance could be headed for trouble. According to latest reports, the prosecutors found irregularities in the crypto exchange’s compliance program. The findings emerged as part of the the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal investigation that began in 2018. However, the U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors are reportedly divided on the issue of concluding the probe.

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How Likely Is Binance To Face Sanctions?

Recent reports indicated that Binance crypto transactions worth $1 billion for Iran based companies. This potentially put the crypto exchange in danger of violating U.S sanctions. However, a divide of opinion between the prosecutors is delaying the conclusion in the case, as per a latest Reuters report. The investigation is primarily centered around U.S. anti-money laundering laws and sanctions, the report added.

Interestingly, the investigation team has already gathered enough evidence to back criminal charges against several executives including CEO CZ. On the other hand, a section of prosecutors are favoring a review of the gathered evidence, the report said. As part of the probe, law enforcement officials have questioned several former Binance advisors. Also, defense attorneys representing Binance have met with the officials from Department of Justice.

The Reuters report also mentioned that the crypto exchange hired officials from a US revenue department agency that was actively probing Binance. This is in addition to strict company policy against usage of unsafe emailing and messaging platforms for internal communication.

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Binance’s Big Impact On Crypto Market

The crypto exchange is under probe for charges on three accounts: unlicensed money transmission, money laundering conspiracy and criminal sanctions violations. The news of the criminal investigation comes at a time when the crypto industry is facing tough times in the backdrop of the FTX collapse. In fact, Binance is one of the few  companies among big crypto firms to not have incurred major losses due to the FTX meltdown.

CZ initiated the proposal to disclose company reserves to ascertain full transparency among crypto firms after the FTX liquidity crunch emerged in November 2022. To follow the principle of full transparency, CZ recommended that crypto exchanges perform the merkle-tree proof of reserves system.

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