Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official John Reed Stark has recently suggested that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) will likely file, or may have already filed under seal, a criminal indictment against cryptocurrency exchange Binance for alleged money laundering. 

Stark, who worked in the SEC Enforcement Division for nearly two decades and managed many joint prosecutions between the SEC and DOJ, stated that the recent complaints filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the SEC against Binance contained allegations of fraud, deception, obstruction of justice, and money laundering that read more like criminal indictments than civil complaints.

Is A US DOJ Criminal Indictment Imminent?

Stark pointed out that the charges could be related to money laundering since it involves disguising financial assets so that they can be used without detection of the illegal activity that produced them. He also believes that the DOJ is working with the SEC, CFTC, and multiple whistleblowers to build a case against the exchange.

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The CFTC’s complaint against Binance charges CEO Changpeng Zhao and three entities operating the platform with multiple CFTC statutes and regulations violations. The complaint also charged Binance’s former chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim, with aiding and abetting Binance’s violations.

According to Stark, the CFTC complaint provides evidence that Lim knew certain customers “are here for crime.” The regulator also alleged that Lim assured a regulator about compliance practices at Binance, which he later admitted in an internal message to a colleague as a ruse. 

In addition to the CFTC action, the SEC has also filed a 136-page complaint alleging that certain Binance entities and CEO Changpeng Zhao co-mingled billions of dollars in customer funds and “secretly” sent them to a separa

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Author: Ronaldo Marquez

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