Binance
founder
Changpeng
“CZ”
Zhao,
who
is
currently
serving
a
four-month
prison
sentence,
will
be
a
free
man
by
the
end
of
the
month.
According
to
the
U.S.
Bureau
of
Prisons
website,
Zhao
–
also
known
as
inmate
88087-510
–
will
be
released
from
custody
on
Sept.
29,
118
days
after
reporting
to
a
low-security
prison,
Lompoc
II,
on
California’s
central
coast.
He
spent
three
months
in
Lompoc
II
before
being
moved
to
a
halfway
house
in
San
Pedro,
California
in
late
August.
Zhao
was
sentenced
to
four
months
in
prison
in
April,
five
months
after
he
pleaded
guilty
to
violating
the
Bank
Secrecy
Act
by
failing
to
set
up
an
adequate
know-your-customer
(KYC)
program
at
Binance.
As
part
of
his
guilty
plea,
Zhao
also
agreed
to
pay
a
$50
million
fine
and
step
down
as
CEO
of
the
crypto
exchange.
After
Zhao
stepped
down,
Richard
Teng
–
a
former
regulator
in
both
Abu
Dhabi
and
Singapore
–
was
appointed
CEO
of
Binance.
In
addition
to
the
charges
against
Zhao,
Binance
was
also
criminally
charged
with
violating
U.S.
sanctions
and
money
transmitting
laws
and
agreed
to
pay
$4.3
million
to
settle
the
allegations.