Binance Let Hundreds of Millions Flow Through Suspicous Accounts After US Settlement: FT
Binance allowed tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} to go via accounts flagged for suspicious exercise even after agreeing to strengthen its compliance controls as half of a $4.3 billion settlement with US authorities in 2023, in line with an investigation by the Financial Times.
Key Takeaways:
- Binance processed massive suspicious transactions after its 2023 US settlement, FT reported.
- Some funds had been linked to alleged Iran- and Hizbollah-related networks.
- The findings elevate questions on Binance’s post-settlement compliance.
The report, primarily based on inner recordsdata reviewed by the newspaper, claimed that accounts with severe crimson flags continued to commerce on the platform properly after Binance entered a plea settlement with the US Justice Department in November 2023.
The leaked knowledge spans transactions from 2021 via 2025 and divulges gaps in enforcement regardless of public commitments to tighter oversight.
FT: Binance Processed $93M From Account Tied to Alleged Terror-Linked Network
Among the circumstances cited by the FT is an account registered to a resident of a Venezuelan slum that moved roughly $93 million via Binance over 4 years.
Some of these funds originated from a community later accused by US authorities of covertly transferring cash for Iran and Lebanon’s Hizbollah.
Another account, registered to a 25-year-old Venezuelan girl, obtained greater than $177 million in crypto over two years and repeatedly modified its linked financial institution particulars, 647 instances in simply 14 months, biking via practically 500 distinctive accounts throughout a number of international locations.
In whole, the FT reviewed knowledge tied to 13 suspicious accounts that collectively dealt with $1.7 billion in transactions.
About $144 million of that quantity occurred after the 2023 settlement, elevating questions concerning the effectiveness of Binance’s post-plea compliance measures.
Stefan Cassella, a former US federal prosecutor, advised the newspaper that the exercise resembled that of an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise.
The investigation additionally uncovered examples of bodily inconceivable login exercise that went undetected.
One account linked to a Venezuelan financial institution worker confirmed entry from Caracas within the afternoon, adopted by a login from Osaka, Japan, early the following morning, a sequence suggesting account compromise or coordinated misuse.
Several of the accounts obtained funds in Tether’s USDT stablecoin from wallets later frozen by Israeli authorities below anti-terrorism legal guidelines.
Many of these transfers had been traced to wallets linked to Tawfiq Al-Law, a Syrian nationwide accused of transferring cash for Hizbollah and Iran-backed Houthi teams.
Israel seized associated accounts in 2023, and the US Treasury sanctioned Al-Law in 2024.
Binance Defends Compliance Controls Amid FT Scrutiny
Binance advised the FT that it maintains strict compliance controls and a zero-tolerance method to illicit exercise, citing methods designed to flag and examine suspicious transactions.
The findings arrive amid renewed scrutiny of Binance’s governance following President Donald Trump’s pardon of founder Changpeng Zhao in October for anti-money laundering violations.
The pardon, coupled with expanded business ties between the Trump family and Binance-linked entities, has difficult oversight efforts, in line with former intelligence officers.
Despite the appointment of unbiased displays in 2024, a lot of the exercise reviewed by the FT reportedly occurred after monitoring started.
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