Binance’s Changpeng Zhao Sued by Hamas Victims Over Terrorism Funding

The families of victims from Hamas’s October 7 have filed a new lawsuit against Binance’s Changpeng Zhao. They claimed the exchange intentionally funded the attack that saw the loss of many lives.

Binance Hit With New Lawsuit Over ‘Terrorism Financing’

The New York Post reported that victims affected by the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel have filed a federal lawsuit against Binance. They accused the exchange of allowing more than $1 billion in crypto transfers to Hamas, Hezbollah, and others.

The exchange, its senior executive Guangying “Heina” Chen, and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao are all specifically named in the complaint. It says the company’s system let militant groups to move funds without any checks.

Lawyers for the families claim that Binance knowingly weakened its compliance measures. They also say it created internal systems to avoid being detected by regulators.

Legal representative Lee Wolosky said in a statement that the platform knowingly funded the groups.

“The lawsuit details how Binance knowingly facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars that helped those responsible for the atrocities of the Oct 7 attack,” he said. “When a company chooses profit over even the most basic counter-terrorism obligations, it must be held accountable and it will be.”

This comes after Binance’s 2023 plea to anti-money-laundering violations and its agreement to pay $4.3 billion in penalties. Changpeng Zhao also entered a guilty plea then and was pardoned by President Trump this year.

Changpeng Zhao Back in the Spotlight After Trump Pardon

CZ appears to still be dealing with the exchange’s legal problems even after he resigned from his post. It was only recently that the platform had gotten acquitted from its case with the U.S SEC. In May, the U.S SEC dropped its civil case against Binance after almost three years.

In the same month, Binance filed a motion to dismiss a $1.76 billion lawsuit by the FTX bankruptcy estate. This was because of a 2021 equity buyback agreement on the grounds that Binance enjoyed improper benefits before FTX’s crash. The exchange has termed the complaint “legally flawed.”

The new Hamas-related lawsuit also points to global examples showing how crypto has been misused to move illegal funds. Some Venezuelan criminal groups are reportedly smuggling gold to Iran to support militant groups and moving millions in digital assets through middlemen. 

Meanwhile in a related case in New York on the attacks, a judge decided this year that plaintiffs have shown enough evidence to claim that Binance helped the attackers from October 7.