Binance Failed to Prevent Suspicious Accounts from Moving $144M After 2023 Plea Deal: Report
After agreeing in November 2023 to stricter anti-money laundering (AML) measures, a $4.37 billion settlement, and five-year monitoring with U.S. regulators, Binance reportedly continued to allow suspicious accounts to operate on its platform. Leaked internal documents reveal that 13 such accounts, primarily registered in countries including Venezuela, Brazil, Syria, Niger, and China, transacted $1.7 billion since 2021, including $144 million after the settlement. One account, registered to a 25-year-old Venezuelan woman, received over $177 million and changed payment details 647 times in just over a year. Another, under a Caracas bank employee, received $93 million and showed suspicious global access patterns. The 13 accounts also received $29 million in USDT from wallets later frozen for terrorism financing links, mostly tied to alleged Hizbollah financier Tawfiq Al-Law. Binance states it has strong compliance systems, noting there is no evidence it made transfers with sanctioned parties after sanctions were imposed. Further compliance failures could subject Binance to additional penalties, including a suspended $150 million fine.
