US prosecutors have sought insider information from cryptocurrency exchange Binance about anti-money laundering controls and reports involving CEO Changpeng Zhao. Reuters writes about it.

Law enforcement made a request at the agency’s disposal in December 2020.

Allegedly, the Justice Department’s Money Laundering Division asked Binance to voluntarily relay messages from Zhao and 12 other executives and partners regarding the exchange’s detection of illegal operations and client acquisition in the United States.

The Department of Justice also dealt with any company registration that contained instructions to “destroy, modify, or remove documents from Binance files” or “transfer from the United States.”

Sources told Reuters that the Justice Department’s request is part of an ongoing investigation into the exchange’s compliance with US financial crime laws.

Authorities are also investigating possible violations of the Bank Secrecy Act by Binance. Its rules require companies to register with the Treasury and comply with anti-money laundering regulations if they do “significant” business in the United States.

Reuters noted that legislation to protect the country’s financial system provides for prison terms of up to 10 years.

“Regulators around the world are calling every major crypto exchange to better understand our industry. This is a standard process for any regulated company. Binance Director of Communications Patrick Hillmann answered a question about the investigation.

“There are 500 people on the security and compliance team,” he said. Among them are former regulators and law enforcement officials, Hillmann added.

In January, Reuters wrote that Binance repeatedly withheld information from regulators, neglected KYC procedures, and violated the compliance department’s recommendations.

The agency’s analysts said in June that during the 2017-2021 period, attackers laundered at least $2.35 billion through Binance.

Recall that the Indian authorities suspected that the WazirX exchange was laundering more than $ 350 million. In 2019, Binance announced its acquisition of the platform.

Zhao said that his company has no affiliation with the Indian crypto trading platform. According to him, the deal did not materialize.

WazirX co-founder Nishal Shetty denied a number of statements by the head of Binance regarding the relationship of the platforms.

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