Cryptocurrency exchange Binance was used by Hamas and other terrorist groups to funnel funds, the US Treasury Department said, explaining the reasons for charging the company with money laundering.
The global trading platform was accused of violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and fined $4.3 billion.
As a result, CEO Changpeng Zhao resigned under an agreement with the Justice Department.
In a Seattle court, Zhao pleaded guilty to the charges and agreed to immediately resign as CEO.
Settlement agreement
Under the deal, Binance will pay $1.81 billion over 15 months, followed by another forfeiture of $2.51 billion as part of the deal, prosecutors told Reuters.
Additionally, Binance also reached a settlement with the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
In a statement, Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen said the trading platform was used to provide money to terrorist groups such as Hamas, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Binance also failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions with organizations designated as terrorist groups by the United States.
"The violations include failure to implement programs to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorists, including the Al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)." .
He accused Binance of turning a "blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit," allowing "money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform."
The Treasury Department stated that the crypto giant also failed to prevent or report transactions with "ransomware attackers, money launderers and other criminals," as well as exchanges between users in the US and in countries sanctioned by the US government. , including Iran, North Korea. Korea and Syria, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
Binance was aware of shady transactions
The Hamas transactions were first acknowledged in February 2019 by then-Binance chief compliance officer Samuel Lim, according to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission lawsuit filed in March against the cryptocurrency exchange.
Lim was briefed on "HAMAS transactions" and responded by saying that terrorists often send "small sums" of money because "large sums constitute money laundering," according to the CFTC complaint.
"I can barely buy an AK-47 for $600," the colleague responded, according to the complaint.
The complaint, citing messages between Lim and his staff, noted that Binance was aware of illegal transactions taking place through its services.
(With contributions from agencies)
