French authorities have expanded a probe to Binance that investigated alleged money laundering, tax fraud and other crimes at Crypto Exchange from 2019 to 2024, according to a Tuesday report from Reuters.
Binance has denied the claims and told Coindesk in an E -mail declaration that it will “strongly fight any charges against it.”
The study, opened by Junalco, the division of Paris prosecutors’ office, which handles financial and financial crime, involves alleged offenses that took place in France as well as the wider EU (EU). French authorities first began to investigate Binance in June 2023 for “Derbruged Money Laundering” and the “illegal” determination of crypto trading services before receiving the legislative approval of the AMF, the French financial regulator, in 2022.
“Binance is deeply disappointed to learn that [JUNALCO] has made the decision to refer this case, which is several years old, to the French judiciary for further investigation, ”the spokesman added.
At that time, News broke on the initial study in 2023, the then CEO Changpen “CZ” Zhao called the reports “FUD” on social media and confirmed Binance’s commitment to its presence in France, which Zhao called Exchange’s “Flagship Center in Europe. “
Last April, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison in the United States for not having completed a suitable know-your-custom (KYC) and anti-white laundering (AML) regime in Binance, thus violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Binance also pleaded guilty to violation of BSA and the sanctions laws and agreed to pay $ 4.3 billion in fines and sanctions to settle the prosecutors.
As part of Zhao’s plea mentioned US prosecutors, he agreed to resign as CEO of Binance. The exchange has since named Richard Teng, a former regulator, as CEO. Since Teng’s acquisition of the exchange, Binance said it has increased its compliance efforts, increased the number of staff and increased its expenses by almost 40% year-over years.
