Former Binance CEO Asks Judge to Permit Him to Leave US Before Sentencing

Mr. Zhao’s lawyers filed a motion asking a judge to deny the Justice Department’s request to bar him from leaving the United States while awaiting sentencing.

Binance Co-Founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao speaks during a press conference at the Europe's largest tech conference, the Web Summit, in Lisbon on Nov. 2, 2022. PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images

Lawyers for Zhao Changpeng, the founder and former CEO of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, asked a federal judge to allow him to leave the United States and return to his home in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ahead of his sentencing on money-laundering charges.

Mr. Zhao’s lawyers filed a motion on Nov. 24 in the Western District of Washington in Seattle, asking U.S. District Judge Richard Jones to deny the Justice Department’s (DOJ) request to bar him from leaving the country while awaiting sentencing.