"US President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, creator of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, who went to prison last year for failing to prevent criminals from using his platform to launder money connected to child sex abuse, terrorism and drug trafficking. In a statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Trump had exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency."
"Zhao was released from prison in September 2024, after serving a four-month sentence for violating the US Bank Secrecy Act. He was the first person to ever serve prison time for breaking that law, which was passed in 1970. The act requires that financial institutions know their customers, monitor their transactions and file reports of suspicious customer activity. Prosecutors said no one had ever violated the rules to the extent that Zhao did between 2017 and 2024."
"Zhao and Binance have been closely linked to the Trump family's crypto companies. As such, the president's decision to pardon Zhao is viewed by some as a conflict of interest. US economist and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich called Trump's move part of a Pay-to-Pardon Scheme. In response to the announcement, Zhao said on Thursday: Deeply grateful for today's pardon and to President Trump for upholding America's commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice."
US President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, who had served a four-month prison sentence after violating the US Bank Secrecy Act. Prosecutors tied Zhao's failure to enforce anti-money-laundering controls to transactions connected to child sex abuse, terrorism and drug trafficking between 2017 and 2024. The pardon followed criticism that Zhao and Binance maintained close links to the Trump family's crypto companies and accusations of a potential conflict of interest. Zhao expressed gratitude for the pardon. Binance's native token BNB rose about 8 percent after the announcement.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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