Top Stories of The Week
Binance founder CZ walks free from US prison
Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao walked free from a United States federal prison on Sept. 27 after serving a four-month stint for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations, a spokesperson for the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons told Cointelegraph.
CZ pled guilty in November to federal charges for failure to implement proper AML controls at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading volumes, according to a Nov. 21 statement from the US Department of Justice. He also stepped down as Binance’s CEO.
With a reported net worth of approximately $60 billion, CZ is the wealthiest person ever to serve a prison sentence in the US.
Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison
Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was sentenced on Sept. 24 to two years in a minimum-security prison for her role in FTX’s collapse.
The sentence was handed down by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who determined that Ellison must also forfeit the roughly $11 billion she earned from FTX.
Kaplan said Ellison’s surrender date will be set on or after Nov. 7. Ellison could have faced 110 years in prison for her crimes, but Lewis expressed considerable sympathy for her. According to Bloomberg, the judge told her:
“You’re a very strong person, Ms. Ellison, in some ways, but not inviolable. Mr. Bankman-Fried had your kryptonite. […] You were vulnerable and you were exploited.”
Ellison clasped her hands in front of her as the sentence was read and family members in attendance at the trial wept.
The reclusive Ellison complained that she was subject to harassment from the crypto community in the media and in real life, which has made her afraid to go out in public. She cooperated extensively with the prosecution in…
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