jakiro
Author: Jesse Coghlan, Cointelegraph; Compiled by: Songxue, Bitchain Vision
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tried to mortgage his billions of dollars in Binance.US to be allowed to return to the United Arab Emirates temporarily, according to a newly unblocked court filing.
The court documents on January 24 revealed a previously sealed letter dated December 22, which was Zhao Changpeng’s lawyer to Judge Richard Jones.According to the letter, Zhao Changpeng provided his equity in Binance.US as collateral, which was worth $4.5 billion based on a round of financing two years ago.
Zhao Changpeng originally hoped to travel to the UAE in early January to help friends or family members who are undergoing surgery and hospitalized, but the letter stated that federal prosecutors did not agree to the request.
Court records show Judge Richard Jones rejected the request at a closed-door hearing on December 29.
Zhao Changpeng pleaded guilty to money laundering on November 21 and is currently in the United States on a bail of $175 million.He faces up to 18 months in prison and agrees not to appeal a sentence of no more than that time.
Some of the recently decrypted letters are still deleted.
The edited part of the letter shows that Zhao Changpeng provided his Binance.US shares.Source: Court Audience
Before this, Jones had prevented Zhao Changpeng from traveling to the UAE because of his huge wealth and property abroad, which was originally part of his bail terms. Jones said that if he returns to the UAE, he “could run away.”
He ordered the former Binance boss to stay in the United States until the verdict date on February 23.Zhao Changpeng’s specific whereabouts in the United States are unknown. He has always kept a relatively low profile on X, and his last release was on December 6, 2023.
Changpeng Zhao resigned as CEO of Binance in November 2022, as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. regulators, he admitted to operating an unlicensed exchange and violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
