Binance ontkent claims van witwasonderzoeken

• Reuters claims the DOJ’s inquiry involves prosecutors at the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, and the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.
• Binance, die berichten over mogelijke strafrechtelijke vervolging weerlegt, zei dat het een team van bijna 300 cyberonderzoekers heeft die samenwerken met autoriteiten over de hele wereld.

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Earlier today, Reuters reported that a possible division among prosecutors in the US Department of Justice is delaying the completion of a lengthy criminal investigation into Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange. The platform claimed that sources familiar with the matter said prosecutors have different opinions about whether the present evidence is sufficient to press charges against the exchange and its executives.

However, Binance took to Twitter to dismiss the report, claiming the news site got it wrong this time. The trading platform accused Reuters of “attacking our incredible law enforcement team. A team that we’re incredibly proud of – they’ve made crypto more secure for all of us.”

Reuters heeft het weer mis.

Now they're attacking our incredible law enforcement team. A team that we're incredibly proud of – they've made crypto more secure for all of us.

Here’s the full statement we sent the reporter and a blog about our remarkable law enforcement team.

— Binance (@binance) 12 december 2022

Binance heeft een verklaring en een blogbericht gedeeld waarin de strijd tegen misdaad wordt beschreven. Het handelsbedrijf zei via een woordvoerder dat het geen inzicht heeft in de interne werking van het Amerikaanse ministerie van Justitie, eraan toevoegend dat het ongepast zou zijn om commentaar te geven als dat wel het geval zou zijn.

Binance revealed that it had in its ranks some of the most renowned cyber investigators representing major law enforcement agencies around the world. The popular exchange further said it has a team of almost 300 financial crime investigators working to keep users safe, adding that “their hard work has directly resulted in a crypto ecosystem that has far less criminal activity on average than the traditional cash system.”

Binance merkte ook op dat het team samenwerkte met wetshandhavingsinstanties over de hele wereld om zaken op te lossen met betrekking tot hacks, oplichting, investeringsfraude, witwassen van geld, door natiestaten gesponsorde aanvallen en andere misdaden. Bovendien onthulde de crypto-uitwisseling dat het team sessies heeft gehouden met Interpol, Europol en handhavers in Brazilië, Argentinië en andere landen.

Binance deelde meer details in een blog na, zeggend,

During the past year, this program has led to us sharing our insider knowledge and expertise over the course of more than 70 workshops and training sessions with law enforcement and prosecutors in a variety of countries — from Asia to Europe, and the Americas. The list includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Philippines, Sweden, South Korea, Thailand, and the UK — to name but a few. 

Binance en de DOJ

The focus of the DOJ‘s inquiry, which began in 2018, was Binance’s compliance with AML regulations and sanctions in the United States. U.S. authorities were looking into allegations of conspiracy to launder money, unauthorized money transmission, and criminal sanctions breaches.

According to two Reuter’s sources, several of the at least six federal prosecutors working the case feel that the information previously acquired supports taking serious action against the exchange and charging certain officials, including the founder Changpeng Zhao, with crimes. The sources claimed that others have urged for taking the time to consider further evidence.

According to the article, Binance’s defense lawyers met with Justice Department representatives recently and advocated against taking legal action. The crypto exchange warned that any legal action taken against them might have a disastrous effect on the cryptocurrency industry. The negotiations allegedly covered prospective plea bargains, according to the report.

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