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NBC News reports that a former Block employee is talking to the feds about apparent sanctions violations.
Prosecutors are allegedly finding that Square and Cash App failed to report certain Bitcoin, credit card transactions, and dollar transfers — some originating from terror groups. Block leadership apparently knew, according to internal documents.
You can read the details of Ver’s alleged misconduct here, but, with this news arriving as Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced for failing to establish adequate anti-money laundering protections, I’m reminded of this line from Ver, quoted in 2014:
“Money laundering is not a crime,” Ver says. “It’s just because certain men with guns don’t like what other people are doing with their own money, so they decide it’s okay to lock those people in a cage.
[www.justice.gov]
The rest of us are asked to remain sitting while he leaves. Unclear if there will be a press conference after.
The defense is requesting that Zhao be designated to SeaTac, at a date to be specified by the court. Zhao promises before the court that he will show up at the time, which is not yet decided.
We are taking a 10 minute break, but there are a few more matters to be ironed out.
But Jones isn’t going to take the government’s sentencing recommendation. He hasn’t yet announced the exact sentence.
He’s leaning forward, listening intently, and occasionally nodding.
However, the scale of the offense is remarkable, and Jones wants to consider deterring future crime. The letters sent to the court on Zhao’s behalf will play a significant role in the sentencing.
The court recognizes that he came voluntarily to the US, has not previously broken laws, and that he took “extraordinary steps and significant steps” in cooperation with law enforcement. But the nature of the events was “aggravating.”
After his brief remarks, he has now stepped down.
Zhao says he wants to create a platform for online education for underprivileged kids. “I find this new work extremely rewarding and meaningful.”
Addressing the courtoom before being sentenced, the Binance begins by saying, “I’m sorry,” and says he wants to take responsibility for his “mistakes.” He notes that Binance did implement a KYC/AML program, and that it is cooperating with the US government.
“In my mind, I wanted to do everything possible before stepping down as CEO.”
The judge is annoyed by this.
Judge Richard Jones is back on the bench, and we are about to hear from Changpeng Zhao himself.
Gotta say, the government has not exactly covered itself in glory here. If Zhao’s statement is convincing, he might not serve time at all.
And because he’s so well-known as a wealthy man, and because Binance is cooperating with the government, there’s a real risk in being in certain facilities, Burck says.
Will the sentence deter other people? Government said Zhao should be punished or else there will be a perverse incentive to do what Zhao did. Burck is arguing that prison time will tell people not to come to the US and accept responsibility for their crimes.
If the government wanted to put Zhao in jail for serious time, why did they let him plead to something with such a short sentence? It makes me wonder about the matter under seal we keep hearing about.
He and Burck are having a back-and-forth now about the appropriateness of jail time as recommended by the probation department.
We know from CZ’s messages quoted in multiple court cases that avoiding anti-money laundering controls was not exactly a mistake but a strategy. The language cuts against the idea that CZ is taking “full responsibility” for his misconduct...
He’s making a strong case that the government’s request for three years is way out of line. CZ looks less unhappy listening to his lawyers speak; he’s listening intently, with his eyebrows up.
“When we read the government’s submission... it read to us like the kind of submission a desperate defendant would write” because it says, essentially, to ignore the sentencing guidelines.
Some of the filings have been sealed. Wonder what this is!!
He “admitted his mistake,” Bartlett says, and asks whether there is anything else CZ could possibly have done to show remorse. Bartlett says he can’t think of anything else.
“When I hear the government discussing the crime here, they don’t seem to be discussing the actual crime,” which is that CZ pleaded guilty to not having an anti-money laundering program. The sanctions violations are irrelevant.
They’re recommending a custodial sentence of 5 months, which they feel is enough to deter defendant and others “without being unnecessarily harsh.” It would be one of the longest sentences for such conduct in this country.
He’s been listening to Mosely with his eyebrows up, forehead furrowed, at times frowning.
The government’s request is double the top end of the guideline range. Wouldn’t that create a disparity in sentencing? Mosley argues that the disparity is in the magnitude of the conduct, and because CZ is an individual who directed it.
“An outcome where a defendant makes a plan to violate US law, does so on a massive scale, makes extraordinary amounts of money” and then gets to go home to make money after getting caught means another rational actor might take that chance.
“The brazen nature of this conduct does require a sentence that includes a meaningful period of incarceration.” The scale of this crime is “magnitudes of order” greater than other offenses, Mosley says.
As a result of asking forgiveness, not permission, Changpeng Zhao made himself a billionaire and celebrity, Mosley says.
We are now going to hear from the government, then probation, then the defense. No one else will speak, as far as we know.
The prosecution is trying to get some enhancements on CZ’s sentencing. We will be sorting out this objection before we go farther.