A recent court filing has disclosed that the plea by Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to travel from the United States to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for personal reasons has been denied by a US federal judge. This request, submitted on January 23, was connected to the hospitalization and surgery of someone significant in Zhao’s life. He offered to use his Binance equity, valued at $4.5 billion, as collateral to ensure his return to the US.
In November, Zhao admitted to the failure of maintaining an effective anti-money laundering (AML) program at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume. In connection with this case, Binance has consented to pay $4.3 billion in penalties.
Despite stepping down from his role as CEO due to his guilty plea, Zhao has remained at liberty under a $175 million release bond. His sentencing is scheduled for February 23.
Zhao requested travel to UAE for one to four weeks
In a letter addressed to Judge Richard Jones dated December 22, attorneys representing Changpeng “CZ” Zhao requested permission for him to travel to Abu Dhabi starting from January 4, with an anticipated stay of one to four weeks. The purpose of this travel was to provide support to an individual undergoing medical treatment, although specific details about the person and the medical treatment were redacted from the letter.
The letter stated, “If the Court is unable to permit Mr. Zhao to reside at home in the UAE for the full extent of this requested time, he respectfully requests that he be permitted to return home for the surgery and initial recovery period, specifically January 4 through January 11, 2024.”
However, court records indicate that federal prosecutors did not grant their consent to Zhao’s travel request, and Judge Jones subsequently denied the request during a closed hearing held on December 29.
This denial marked the second instance in which Judge Jones rejected Zhao’s travel request to the UAE. Judge Jones cited factors such as Zhao’s substantial wealth and his limited ties to the United States as contributing to the potential risk of flight, stating, “Under these circumstances, the Court finds that the defendant has not established by clear and convincing evidence that he is not likely to flee if he returns to the UAE.”
